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THE SETTLER'S MAP AND GUIDE BOOK. 



OKLAHOMA. 



A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, SOIL, AND 

RESOURCES OF THE INDIAN TERRITORY, OKLAHOMA 

PROPER, THE PUBLIC LAND STRIP, AND 

CHEROKEE OUTLET. 



THE SPRINGER BILL. THE INDIAN APPROPRIATION BILL. 
PRESIDENT HARRISON'S PROCLAMATION. THE HOME- 
STEAD AND TOWNSITE LAWS, WITH FORMS 
AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING 
ENTRIES. 



PUBLISHED BY 

W. B. MATTHEW'S, 

{Late Assistant Chief of the Pre-emption Division, Comal Land Office), 

LAND AND MINING ATTORNEY, ATLANTIC BUILDING, 

Washington, D C- 



washington, d. c: 
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WM. B. MATTHEWS, 

( Late Assistant Chief of the Pre-emption Division, and Ex- 
aminer of Mineral Contests, — one of the editors 
of "Matthews and Conway's Digest of 
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ATTORNEY AT LAW. 

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Land Office; Hon. Binder Hermann, M. C; Hon. Thomas M. 
Bowen, U. S. S.; Hon. S. M. Stockslager, Commis- 
.sioner General Land Office ; and to pub- 
lic men generally through- 
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BY W. B. MATTHEWS 

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A High Testimonial from Hon. S. M. Stocks/agcr, Commissioner of the Con 

era/ Land Office. 

General land Office, Washington, D. ('., February 8, iss Q . 

* * * I congratulate you on tne publication of your guide. It gives in a small com- 
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Very truly, S. M. Stockslager, 

General i.anp Office, Washington. D. C. 

* * * it is a safe and reliable guide to all persons having business before the Depart- 
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Svo., 234 pages, and valuable historical map of the United States. 

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PRICE : Paper, $1.50; half sh«>ep. $8.00. 



THE SETTLER'S MAP AND GUIDE BOOK. 

OKLAHOMA. 



A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, SOIL, 

AND RESOURCES OF THE INDIAN TERRITORY, 

OKLAHOMA PROPER, THE PUBLIC LAND 

STRIP, AND CHEROKEE OUTLET. 



THE SPRINGER BILL. THE INDIAN APPROPRIATION 

BILL. PRESIDENT HARRISON'S PR O CLAMA TION. 

THE HOMESTEAD AND TOWNSITE LAWS. 



PUBLISHED BY 

W. B. MATTHEWS, 

Land and Mining Attorney, At/antic Building, 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Washington, D. C: 
W.m. II. Leplby, Electric Power Printer. 
1889. 



If 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1889, 

By W. B. MATTHEWS, 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



■Rc ~ **3 



INDIAN TERRITORY." 



The lands comprised in the so-called "Indian Territory," in which 
Okalahoma is situated, were embraced originally in such of the territory 
known as the "Louisiana purchase" (ceded by France to the United 
States by the treaty of April 30, 1803) as lay east and west of the Missis- 
sippi river and not within the States of Missouri and Louisiana, or the 
territory of Arkansas, nor within any State in which the Indian title had 
not been extinguished, which the President of the United States might 
deem necessary for the reception of certain tribes, and were declared by 
the acts of May 28, 1830, and June 30, 1834, should be "taken and 
deemed to be the •' Indian country.' " 

The causes which coerced or induced the creation of this "Indian 
country" were individual rapacity and greed, supported by State usurpa- 
tion and federal tyranny or injustice. 

For many years, in 1828, in Georgia and Alabama, the Cherokee, 
Seminole, and Creek tribes or nations of Indians had been established on 
lands secured to them by treaties with the United States, but on the re- 
ported discovery of gold about that time, or probably earlier, in the In- 
dian regions of those States the white man, incited by cupidity, began to 
encroach on or invade the Indian lands in pursuit of the aura sacra. Many 
outrages attended this invasion. The Indians very naturally complained. 
This invasion being supported by the State authorities, the Indians ap- 
pealed to the national executive for the protection guaranteed them by 
their treaties with the United States. What protection or redress they 
obtained from that high functionary may be gathered from a brief synopsis 
of a characteristic debate in the United States Senate in May, 1834, on a 
memorial of the Cherokees. The memorial, signed by their principal 
chief and other delegates, and presented by the Senator from Delaware, 
Hon. Jno. M. Clayton, complained : 

That notwithstanding the faith of treaties, the obligations of the laws and the solemn 
decisiqn of the Supreme Court of the United States in their favor, the President of the 
United States has not only refused to protect them against the oppressions of the State 
of Georgia, but is exerting his power on the side of their oppressors and co-operating 
with them in the work of destruction ; that under these laws in prior times they had 
been protected by the national executive ; that they had under that protection become 
Christians and had advanced in civilization, enjoying blessings which had been converted 
into instruments of the keenest torture ; that cupidity had fastened its eye upon their 
lands and their homes, and is seeking by force and by every variety of oppression and 
wrong to expel them from their firesides and to tear them from all that had become dear 
to them, and declared that a detail of their sufferings would make a history, &c. 

Mr. Clayton moved the reference of the memorial to the Committee on Indian affairs. 

Mr. Forsythe, of Georgia, resisted its reception and reference. All he saw in 
the memorial and its recital of sufferings and wrongs was " the impudent auda- 



city of the head of the Cherokee tribe," an independent and foreign nation, "come to 
beard the Government." His indignation was expressed in strong language. 

Hon. Henry Clay, of Kentucky supported the motion to receive the memorial. He 
said he should not go into the general question of the horrible grievances which had 
been inflicted upon the Indians by that arbitrary policy which trampled upon treaties and 
the faith of the nation ; but he did hope that the Senate would not consent to close its doors 
against the humble petition presented by these poor Indians in relation to abuses which 
had been practised upon them by another branch of the government. * 

Other Senators urged a like view. 

Mr. Frelinghuysen did not see the evidence of their "insolence." It was the duty of 
Congress to see whether they had been wronged. The Senator from Georgia repre- 
sented a State which had crushed them as a nation, and was now endeavoring to shut 
them out because they represented themselves as the Cherokee nation. They had here- 
tofore been denied that title ; they had been called " poor devils," and now because 
they called themselves a nation Congress were to shut their ears against them. He 
would let them call themselves the " Cherokee nation : " it was all that was left of them. 
Georgia had stripped them of everything else, &c. 

Mr. Forsythe, of Georgia reiterated his objections and other Senators on the same side 
sustained the executive branch of the government in its acts of oppression. 

Hon. Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, said, " Strike, but hear!" had upon one occa- 
sion been the expression of patient endurance to arbitrary power. Did these people 
represent themselves as an independent nation ? Certainly not ! Hard words were not 
strong arguments, and '< insolent, audacious, presumptious" Cherokees proved nothing. 
These Indians stood in a peculiar relation to this country. They were in some sort inde- 
pendent, but we did not admit that they were absolutely so. We did not permit them to 
form European alliances, nor to sell their lands excepting to ourselves. Why, then, 
could not the Senate receive their petition. There was no sovereignty about them! 
The different States of the Union petitioned, and did any one suppose there was more 
independence in the Cherokee tribe than among the several States. But the case 
did not stop here. If the Indians had a grievance, if the treaties had not been fulfilled, 
if the large sums appropriated for their benefit had been misapplied, only to Congress 
could the Indians go for redress. The case was just the same as if presented by individ- 
uals whose right to petition could not be denied. Mr. W. was sorry to hear from the 
gentleman from Georgia that the Cherokee chief had got possession of " the purse and 
sword," but in that he was only following the example of his white neighbors. The 
error of the gentleman from Georgia consisted in his understanding of the word "nation " 
in its common acceptation, while every one else knew that " nation " in this case did not 
imply entire independence. The gentleman's argument rested entirely on a false founda- 
tion, when "nation" in this sense means a tribe of people controlled and protected by 
Congress, not such a nation as France, Spain, or any other foreign country. 

The "friends of the Indians and justice" were powerless to protect 
them. "The earth and the fullness thereof" were by divine right the 
peculiar spolia of the white man. 

The excitement ran high, involving Congress, the State and the national 
authorities, and at one time bloodshed and civil war seemed imminent. 
The fiat was : " The Indians must go ! The ' poor devils ' must surrender 
their lands and homes to the white men coveting them." Under treaties 
practically forced from these helpless people, these Indians, to whom the 
transfer was most repugnant, were removed to the new " Indian country." 
Other Indian tribes, at different dates, were also located on the same In- 
dian domain, all of them involving heavy expenditures of the national 
treasure, attended by charges of corruption in their disbursements. 

The original boundaries of the new country, estimated in 1850 as embrac- 
ing 195,000 square miles, or 124,800,000 acres, have been greatly reduced 
by the formation of new States. What is left of it lies between the par- 
allels of 34 and 37 north latitude and the 94 30' and 100 meridi- 



5 



ans of longitude west. It is bounded on the north by Kansas, on the east 
by Missouri and Arkansas, on the south by Texas, and on the west by 
Texas and the so-called "Public Land Strip." It is estimated by the 
General Land Office to contain 63,253 square miles or 40,481,600 acres. 
Besides the five civilized tribes or nations, (" the Cherokees, Creeks, Chicka- 
saws, Choctaws, and Seminoles,") the following Indians are located on 
reservations within the territory : The Osages, Kansas, (Kaws,) Pawnees, 
Sacs and Foxes, Pottawatomies, Tonkawas, Poncas, Otoes and Missourias, 
Iowas, Kickapoos, Cheyennes and Arapahoes, Wichitaws, Kiowas, Co- 
manches and Apaches, etc., comprising a population of 10,374, located on 
reservations containing 11,685,035 acres. The following table is taken 
from the annual report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1886, 
showing the whole number of acres in the Indian Territory east and the 
whole number west of longitude 98 , and the distribution of population: 

Total number of acres in Indian Territory 41,102,546 

Number of acres in Indian Territory west of 98O 13^740,223 

Number of acres in Indian Territory east of 98^ 27,362,323 

Number of acres of unoccupied \a.n<ls in Indian Territory east of 98^ . . . 3,683,605 

Number of Indians in Indian Territory west of 98^ 7,616 

Number of Indians in Indian Territory east of 98- 68,183 

Total number of Indians now in Indian Territory 75,799 

Number of acres each Indian would have if unoccupied lands east of 98O 

were divided equally among Indians now living west of 98- 483 

Number of acres each Indian would have if all lands east of 98^ were divded 

equally among all Indians now in Indian Territory 359 

The following is from the same report respecting the five civilized tribes 
or nations : 



Tribe. 



Acres. 



Cherokees* ; 5,031,351 

Creeks 3,040,495 

Chicksaws I 4,650,935 

Choctaws , 6,688,000 

Seminoles 375,000' 



Population. 


Acres to 
each indi- 
vidual. 


22,000 
14,000 

6,000 
16,000 

3,000 


22S— 
217— 

775— 
417— 
125— 



♦Exclusive of lands west of the Arkansas River. 

Or a total area of 19,785,781 acres and a population of 61,000. Ad- 
mitting this enumeration of the Indian population to be correct, and allow- 
ing each Indian 160 acres, (61,000 x 160 = 9,760,000) would leave an 
actual surplusage of land of 10,025,781 acres in the domain of these five 
tribes alone. But Mr. Struble, of Iowa, in a speech in the House of 
Representatives, June 3, 1883, in a table including the population and 
acreage of all the tribes in this territory, and allowing each Indian 160 
acres, shows an actual surplusage of 28,578,990 acres. Mr. Struble adds : 

These statistics of population are probably greatly exaggerated, besides embracing 
several thousand "white Indians" and white laborers who work for the Indians and 
6000 manumitted slaves. Robert L, Owen, U. S. Indian agent at Union Agency, 
Muscogee, Ind. Ter., in his report for 1S85, estimates that there are among the live 
civilized tribes alone 5000 white Indian citizens and 17,000 white farm laborers. Join 



Q. Tufts, U. S. Indian agent at same place for the year preceding (1884) reports that 
there were at the date of his report 16,000 white laborers among these tribes. 

CLIMATE, SOIL, VEGETATION, ETC. 

The topography of the territory is described in general terms as a vast 
plain with a gradual slope towards the east, the only considerable elevations 
being the Wichita mountains in the southwest, and some spurs of the 
Ozark and Washita ranges in the east, and is drained by the Arkansas and 
Red rivers and their numerous affluents. The Arkansas enters it from the 
north near the 97th meridian, and, running through the northeast portion 
in a southeasterly direction, passes into Arkansas at Ft. Smith. It is 
navigable at certain seasons to Ft. Gibson. The Canadian, having its 
rise in New Mexico, and the Cimarron, having its rise in Kansas, principal 
tributaries of the Arkansas, traverse the entire territory from west to east. 
The Red river washes the southern border, and receives the Washita, a 
Texan stream, and numerous tributaries. It is navigable during the 
greater part of the year for small steamers. 

The climate is described as "beautiful," "superb," "mild," "delight- 
ful," and "healthy." The average mean temperature is from5o° to 6o°: 
in the coldest seasons the thermometer rarely falls below 2o°or 30 . The 
atmosphere is dry : altitude of about 1600 feet. 

In all parts good lands are plentiful. Its virgin soil, " taken all in all," 
surpasses that of the States, and much of it in the eastern and central parts 
is declared to be the richest on the continent, "the finest in the world." The 
river bottoms of the east, the home of the five civilized tribes, are broad, 
level and fertile, and its prairies, uplands, and wood lands are richly produc- 
tive of all farm crops. Some portions of the northwest is arid, producing 
so far only "sage brush and cacti." The western section, although as a 
whole not so productive as the eastern, is yet excellent farm land, and 
very fruitful of all vegetable and cereal crops. Even its broken and rugged 
parts are excellent grazing areas ; all kinds of stock thrive on their nutritious 
grasses. Red and yellow plums, delicious strawberries, large sweet grapes, 
dewberries, raspberries, and blackberries grow wild in the greatest profusion, 
and its soil and situation are adapted to and gives promise of extensive fruit 
culture. 

Throughout the eastern and in the central sections along the streams 
timber is everywhere abundant. The northwest generally is barren of 
timber forests, but along the streams and on the hills timber is plentiful. 
From the Arkansas to the Brazos river, there extends a forest belt called 
the " Cross Timbers," estimated at from 30 to 5 miles in breadth, separat- 
ing the richly " fruitful lands" of the eastern and central parts from the 
only less productive table lands of the west, and a timber belt of hickory, 
walnut, oak, pecan, etc., estimated at about 75 miles in width reaches 
across the territory from the northeast to the southwest. Nor is there ab- 
solutely a dearth in any part of timber for ordinary domestic purposes. 

GAME. 

The Territory has long been famous for its hunting and fishing grounds. 
The buffalo has disappeared and the antelope has become scarce. But 
along its streams and in its forests, mountain lions, black and brown bears, 
red and grey foxes, panthers, wolves, wild boars, raccoons, opossums, 



wild cats, minks, otters, wild turkeys, sage hens or prairie chickens, quail, 
snipe, rice birds and many other game animals are found. Fish of many 
varieties abound in the streams — salmon, bass, perch, croppies, catfish, 
suckers, etc., and to the hunter and sportsman furnish both pleasure and 
profit. 

INDIAN RESERVATIONS. 

The surface of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe reservation, in its leading 
features, is high, rolling prairie, rising at some places into almost mountain- 
ous elevations. It is broken by but little timber. Its lower bottom lands 
produce abundantly. Its high prairies and caiions, in early spring, are 
covered with beds of gorgeous flowers in great variety, and their luxuriant 
nutritious grasses, with a plentiful water supply from the Canadian and 
Washita rivers and their tributaries, create extensive ranges for horses and 
stock of all kinds. Its soil, with the exception of the sand hills, is natur- 
ally rich, and all it requires to make them productive of all farm crops 
is the necessary rainfall or irrigation. The climate is mild and equable, 
the nights being cool and pleasant, and the rainfall is annually increasing. 

The lands of the Ponca reservation situated in the Arkansas, Salt Fork, 
and Chikaskia valleys, are described as abundantly watered and well 
timbered, a large proportion of it being rich bottom land, producing heavy 
crops of all grains and vegetables; its natural resources, if developed, 
would render these Indians independent and rich. 

The lands of the Otoe and Missouria reservation are regarded as infe- 
rior to those of the adjoining Ponca reservation. Good agricultural land,* 
however, is to be had in Red Rock and other valleys of this reservation, 
as is also rich grazing land. 

TRESPASSING CRIMINALS. 

Parts of this Territory, along its borders, have long been abodes of ref- 
uge for the vilest and most desperate criminals — for murderers, horse- 
thieves, gamblers, felons of every character, and the lowest prostitutes. 
No law apparently could reach them. No competent court or authority 
within its limits in which they might be adequately punished or held for 
extradition. 

When these criminals became offensive, committed some outrage against 
or encroached on the resident Indians, they were summarily removed by the 
military and sometimes taken to Fort Smith, Ark., and punished, but in 
many cases they again escaped into the Territory. An United States court 
created for the Territory at the last session of Congress, and the enforce- 
ment of recent acts for the punishment of crime within its limits, and for 
the arrest of fugitives, will probably greatly mitigate this evil. 

MINERALS. 

The mineral or mining possibilities of the Territory are but little known. 
Prospecting has been very light. In Oklahoma proper salt and gympsum 
in large quantities, as also great fields of mica, have been discovered. Silver 
and lead have been found near Ft. Sill, and gold, probably some old Spanish 
mines, near Purcell ; also granite deposits and building stone in quality rival- 
ing eastern granite. Good bituminous coal, excellent for domestic pur- 
poses, is abundant, and some of it has long been mined. The extensive coal 



fields of the McAlester region have for fifteen years largely supplied the Mis- 
souri Pacific railroad with coal, and reliable authorities believe in the exist- 
ence of great mineral wealth in the Territory. 

RAILROADS. 

Railroad enterprise is rapidly opening communication with all parts of 
the Territory, and will greatly facilitate its settlement and the development 
of its resources. 

A division of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad (the Gulf,. 
Colorado, and Santa Fe road), from Arkansas City, Kan., runs south to 
Gainesville, Texas, through the Ponca and the Otoe and Missouria reserva- 
tions, Oklahoma proper, and the Chickasaw nation. This line strikes Okla- 
homa City on the north fork of the Canadian river, Purcell on the Canadian 
river, and passes through Washita and Ardmore. The Southern Kansas di- 
vision of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe road leaves the Kansas line at 
Kiowa, runs across the northwest corner of the Territory, extending into the 
Texas panhandle, and will be ultimately constructed to El Paso, 

Union Pacific Railway, Southern branch, running from the southern bound- 
ary of Kansas south through the Indian Territory, along the valley of Grand 
and Arkansas'rivers, to Ft. Smith, Ark. This road is now known as the Mis- 
souri, Kansas, and Pacific. 

Crossing the line at Waggoner, and following the Arkansas river, the Kan- 
sas, Arkansas Valley, Little Rock, and Ft. Smith is extending its road to 
Arkansas City. 

Two branches of the St. Louis and San Francisco road extend from 
Carthage, Mo., into the Territory; one branch entering from Newton 
County, Mo., crosses the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas at Vinita, and, 
spanning the Arkansas river, proceeds to Sepulpa. On the north side of 
the Arkansas river, from Tulsa, the road will be extended through Oklahoma 
proper, via Ft. Reno and Darlington, to the Canadian river ; there it will 
strike the proposed Atlantic and Pacific. The other branch of the St. 
Louis and San Francisco road, entering the Territory at Ft. Smith, passes into 
Texas through the Choctaw nation. 

A division of the Missouri Pacific railroad (the Missouri, Kansas, and 
Texas) enters the Territory near its northeast corner, at Chetopa, Kan., 
and, running through the Cherokee, Creek, and Choctaw nations in a 
southwesterly direction, strikes the Texan line at Denison, on the south 
bank of the Red river. This line traverses the great coal fields of the 
Territory, passing the towns Vinita, Muscogee, McAlester, Eufaula, Kiowa, 
and Atoke. 

The Chicago, Kansas, and Nebraska railroad (the Rock Island road) is 
building two important branches; one extending from Liberal, Kan., 
through No Man's Land, to Texas, and the other southwesterly from Cald- 
well, Kan., to Wichita Falls, Texas, through the Cherokee outlet and the 
reservations of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, Wichitas, and the Kiowas 
and Comanches, passing through Ft. Reno, Darlington, Anadarko, and 
Ft. Sill. 

The Atlantic and Pacific also proposes to construct a line following the 
Canadian river, running east and west along its north bank. 



INDIAN AND CATTLE TRAILS. 

The route from Arkansas City, Kan., is regarded as the best and most 
practicable for the Oklahoma colonists. From that city the Santa Fe rail- 
road runs directly through the heart of the Oklahoma country, and from it 
converge many Indian roads or trails. Among these are the Kiowa and Com- 
manche trail, running southwesterly for twenty miles, thence south through 
the Nez Perce reservation, and thence through the Cherokee ceded lands 
along a divide to the north line of Oklahoma proper ; great trails to the 
Cheyenne and Arapahoe reservations, and to the Seminole and Cherokee 
nations; roads to Beaver City, in the Public Land Strip, and to the Texas 
panhandle. 

A stage road, or the Abilene, Kan. , cattle trail, runs from the Wichita In- 
dian agency, on the Washita river north, to Wichita, Kan.; while the great 
Texas cattle trail, running northwesterly, traverses the reservation of the 
Kiowas and Comanches, and that of the Cheyenne and Arapahoes, and the 
Cherokee Outlet. Numerous minor roads and trails intersect the Territory. 

INDIAN GRAZING LEASES. 

In the debate in the House of Representatives of June 3, 1886, Mr. 
Struble, of Iowa, in a very able, logical, and exhaustive speech, cited a 
table, prepared by the Secretary of the Interior, of the leases of lands in 
the Indian Territory, including the Cherokee outlet, for grazing purposes. 
They are thirty-two in number, and embrace an estimated area of 1 2,01 S, 234 
acres. Of this large area about one-half, or 6,000,000 acres, were in the 
Cherokee outlet, leased to the Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association ; 
3,832,120 acres were in the Cheyenne and Arapahoe reservation, 380,000 
acres in the Osage*reservation, and the remainder (1,806,114 acres) in the 
reservations of the Kiowas, Comanches, and Wichitas, the Sacs and Foxes, 
the Poncas, the Otoes and Missourias, the Pawnees, Ottowas, etc. It is 
estimated, also, that about 2,000,000 acres in Oklahoma proper were 
covered by these leases. Most of them were dated in 1883 ; some were 
dated in 1884, and others in 1885. They extended over periods of two, 
five, six, and ten years, and embrace rental rates varying all the way from 
two to fifty cents per acre. 

These leases are all without the authority of law or the sanction or ap- 
proval of the Government. 

The leases to the Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association, covering 6,000,- 
000 acres in the Cherokee outlet, and probably 2,000,000 in Oklahoma 
proper and adjacent country, were relet to or subdivided among nearly 
one hundred minor cattle companies. Thus our enterprising cattle kings, 
simply through the usurped powers of the Indians in leasing the lands, 
monopolize and parcel out among themselves these large areas of valuable 
land, to the exclusion of thousands of homeseekers, who would gladly 
settle and cultivate them. 

The lease of the Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association expired by its 
terms in 1888. Nor has it been renewed. A number, but not all, of the 
leases in the Cheyenne and Arapahoe reservation were vacated by President 
Cleveland's proclamation of July 23, 1885, and many cattle were removed. 
Nevertheless, cattle in large herds still range the Cherokee strip. " Cattle 



10 

on a thousand hills " in Oklahoma still graze and fatten, and the cattle men, 
apparently secure in their impunity, advertise their ranches and stock in 
southern Kansas journals. These cattle men are clearly intruders — unlawful 
occupants of the land. The Indians are precluded by statute from alien- 
ating or leasing their lands for any purpose without the consent of the 
Government. Nor can the President or the Department approve these 
leases without the authority of Congress, That Congress has steadily re- 
fused. Consequently, the leases under which these lands are held are as 
unlawful, as they are opposed by the unvarying policy of the Government. 
That is the opinion of Attorneys General Devens and Garland, and the 
cattlemen, with their herds, our hyksos or nomad kings, veritable types of 
semi-barbarism, who thus usurp these lands, excluding the agents or forces 
of civilization, should be summarily ejected. That is demanded alike by 
the real purpose of the Indian treaties and by justice to our homeless people. 



PUBLIC LAND STRIP OR NO MAN'S LAND. 



The public land strip, included in the bill for the organization of Okla- 
homa Territory, lies within the iooth and the 103d meridian of longitude 
west, and latitude 36 ° 30' and 37 ° north, bounded on the north by Colo- 
rado and Kansas ; on the east by the Cherokee outlet ; on the west by 
New Mexico, and on the south by Texas. It is 167 miles in length by 
34)4 miles in width, and contains an area of 5,761*4 square miles, or 3,- 
687,360 acres. 

Until the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of February, 1848, this strip of 
land formed a part of the Mexican possessions claimed by Texas, and was, 
under the act of September 9, 1850, included in the territory for which 
the United States paid Texas $10,000,000. 

By the treaty of May 6, 1828, besides setting apart 7,000,000 acres for 
the use of the Cherokee Indians, the United States also guaranteed to that 
nation ''a perpetual outlet" west, and a free, unmolested use of all the 
country west of the western boundary of the above lands " as far west as 
the sovereignty of the United States and their right of soil extended." 
The Cherokees claimed this so-called "Public Land Strip" as the 
" western outlet " provided for in the treaty of 1828. It was designated 
on the official maps of the General Land Office, but without authority, up 
to 1869, as a part of the Indian Territory, but on January 29, 1886, it 
was held by the General Land Office that, as the jurisdiction ofthe United 
States at the date of the above treaty extended only to the iooth meridian, 
no subsequent acquisition of territory by the national government could 
extend the rights of the Cherokee nation beyond that limit. Hence this 
so-called "Public Land Strip," being west of that meridian, formed "no 
part of the Indian Territory or the Cherokee outlet." 

Subsequently, up to 1869 and since, also without any proper or legal 
authority, this body of land has been described on the official maps as the 
" Public Land Strip." 

In the Thirty-third Congress, first session, in the Senate, the original 
bill and the substitute reported from the Committee on Territories, to 
organize the Territory of Nebraska, established as its southern boundary 
the line of 36 30' north latitude, its eastern boundary extending to the 
western boundary line of Missouri. But on January 23, 1854, Mr. 
Stephen A. Douglas, chairman of the Senate Committee on Territories, 
stated that the attention of the committee had been called by the chairman 
of the Committee on Indian Affairs to the fact that the line of 36 30' 
" would divide the Cherokee country, whereas, by taking the parallel of 
37 north latitude as the southern boundary of the proposed Territory, the 
line would run between the Cherokees and Osages, and that the Commi 



12 

tee had therefore concluded to vary the southern boundary so as not to 
divide the Cherokee nation by the terms of the bill." (Cong. Globe, 33d 
Cong., first sess., p. 221.) 

The establishment of the line of 37 north latitude as the south- 
ern boundary of Nebraska, which subsequently, on the division of Neb- 
raska into two Territories, (Nebraska and Kansas,) also because the south- 
ern boundary of Kansas, consequently left this body of land in its present 
isolated situation. 

This land strip formed a part of what was once described as ".the 
Great American Desert." Cattlemen and their partisans still ridicule it as 
"an insignificant sandy cactus patch " " a desert," almost unfit for human 
habitation. But less interested and consequently better and more reliable 
authorities, the actual settlement of nearly all its lands by a thriving peo- 
ple, the existence within its limits of towns or villages, a population esti- 
mated at 15.000, and a quasi government with its headquarters or capital 
at Beaver on the North Canadian river, all expose the untruthful character 
and selfish purposes of the story of the cattle bosses, who for many years 
have with their herds monopolized so large a proportion of its fine grazing 
areas, and would now defeat its settlement by actual homeseekers. 

The face of- the country is described as broken, as " a gentle slope," 
alternating "from sandy plains and treeless prairies in the west to hilly 
country and well timbered regions in the east." From the foothills of the 
Rocky mountains the trend of the land and the streams is in a southeast- 
erly direction, and the Washita, Sansboy, and Poteau mountain groups are 
situated in its central parts, chiefly between the Canadian and Red rivers. 

Its lands, lying beyond a timber belt (originally called "The Cross 
Timbers," varying from 30 to 5 miles in width and supposed at one time 
to bound the timber region), are naturally rich and fertile, range at a 
high altitude, are comparatively dry, and proper irrigation is all that is 
needed for their successful cultivation to all cereal and vegetable crops. 
Ninety per cent, of the entire "strip," it is estimated, can be profitably 
cultivated. 

Water is described as everywhere abundant in springs and clear running 
streams. It can be found anywhere by digging. Wells, averaging a depth 
of 30 feet, furnish an inexhaustable supply, and artesian water has been 
struck, rendering irrigation of the land by the farmer easy and profitable. 

Its possibilities as a fruit growing country are also great. Delicious 
wild plums are plentiful. A large, luscious grape grows wild in great 
quantities, and the "strip" is regarded as a possible rival to California in 
grape culture. 

Its climate is described as colder than that of the Indian Territory ; its 
low mean temperature of about 55 ° being largely due to cold northers from 
the Rocky mountains. The winters are short, with plenty of sunshine. 
The thermometer rarely falls below zero. Cattle graze all winter without 
"feed," and in the spring are turned out as beeves. Rheumatism and 
malaria are almost unknown, and for asthma, catarrh, and pulmonary and 
bronchial affections the climate is unsurpassed. 

The average rainfall heretofore has been about 20 inches, and is reported 
as annually increasing. 



OKLAHOMA. 



By the treaties of August n and 16, 1866,* the Creeks ceded to the 
United States the west half of their entire domain, about 3,402,428.88 
acres at 30 cents per acre, and the Seminoles their entire domain, about 
2,037,414.62 acres at 15 cents per acre — in all, 5,439,843.50 acres. These 
cessions, as stated in these treaties, were in compliance with the desire of the 
government to locate on them other friendly Indians and freedmen. 

Accordingly, portions of the lands on the east and west of these cessions 
have been set apart for the occupancy and use of certain bands and tribes 
of friendly Indians, and it is the unappropriated lands thus ceded, situated 
in the center or heart of the "Indian Territory," which constitute the 
original " Oklahoma," or Oklahoma proper. 

But the Springer bill which on February 1, 1S89, passed the House of 
Representatives, for the organization of Oklahoma Territory, includes 
Oklahoma proper, "the Cherokee outlet," and the so-called "No Man's 
Land," or "Public Land Strip," and is described as "bounded on the 
west by Texas and New Mexico, on the north by Colorado and Kansas, on 
the east by the reservation occupied by the Cherokee tribe of Indians east 
of the 96th meridian of west longitude and by the Creek, Seminole, and 
Chickasaw reservations, and on the south by the Creek, Seminole, and 
Chickasaw reservations and by Texas — comprising what is known as the 
Public Land Strip, and all that part of the Indian Territory not actually 
occupied by the five civilized tribes." 

Mr. Springer in his report of February 7, 1888, from the committee on 
Territories, describes its area as follows : 

" The area in said Territory not occupied by the Indian tribes and the 
acreage thereof is as follows : 

Acres. 

Cherokee outlet 6,022,244 

Public Land Strip 3,672,640 

Oklahoma lands 1,887,800 

Total 11,582,684 

" These areas do not include what is known as Greer county. The bill 
simply provides that the Territory to be organized shall be bounded on 
the south by the State of Texas wherever that line may be determined 
hereafter to be. If it should be decided that Greer county is a part of 
the Indian Territory and belongs to the United States it will be embraced 
within the provisions of the bill and the lands thereof be opened to settle- 

* These treaties proclaimed August n and August 16, 1866, were made, the Seminole 
treaty on March 21, 1866, and the Creek treaty on June 14, 1866. 



14 

ment. Including this county the area of the whole Territory organized 
under this bill comprises 38,718 square miles, or 24,779,885 acres, an 
area about the size of the State of Ohio. The Indian tribes now located 
within said Territory by departmental orders and special acts of Congress 
are included within the Territory for judicial purposes,, and for such other 
purposes as may be consistent with our treaty obligations with each of these 
tribes. But it is expressly provided, as stated heretofore, that nothing in 
the bill shall interfere with any right which any Indian tribe may now 
have under any treaties or agreements with the United States heretofore 
ratified." 

In Oklahoma proper, a rolling country with no great altitudes, no Indians 
have been allowed to reside nor are there any white settlements. It is 
absolutely uninhabited except by straggling hunters, who dare not even 
build a shanty from which to hunt, and by cowboys attending the herds 
which still manage, in defiance of executive orders for their removal, to 
hold their ground in some parts. The climate is " delightful ; " neither 
too cold in winter nor too hot in summer. The lowest temperature in 
winter is zero, rarely falling, however, and only for short periods of a day 
or two, below 15 ° or 20 ° above zero. 

There is no waste land in the country. On seventy-five per cent, of 
the land, a rich loam capable of the highest cultivation, tropical as well as 
all cereal and vegetable products can be readily raised, while the remain- 
der are excellent timber and grazing lands, the luxuriant hay grasses of 
which, growing wild and higher than a horse's head, demonstrate the 
great natural fertility of the soil. 

A writer in the American Field of a recent date declares : "If there is 
a more beautiful or more fertile spot on earth the question as to the loca- 
tion of the original garden of Eden is settled." 



CHEROKEE OUTLET, 



Sometimes called the "Cherokee Strip," embraces an area of 6,022,244 
acres. By the treaty concluded May 6, 1828, and ratified May 28, 1828, 
Article 2, and by subsequent treaties, " the United States guarantee to the 
Cherokee nation 7,000,000 acres" of land . and " a perpetual outlet west, and 
a free and unmolested use of all the country lying west of the western bound- 
ary " of the 7,000,000 acres "as far west as the Government of the United 
States and their right of soil extend," which, in 1828, extended only to the 
1 ooth meridian. It is bounded on the north by Kansas, on the west by the 
Public Land Strip and Texas, on the east by the Cherokee reservation, and 
on the south by the Cheyenne and Arapahoe reservation, Oklahoma 
proper, etc. Within its limits are neither Indians nor white settle- 
ments. Its surface is described as rolling, with no great elevations, and is 
watered by the Cimarron river and the Salt Fork of the Arkansas river flow- 
ing through its centre. Its luxuriant and rich grasses furnish excellent food, 
and its broad prairies and plains extensive ranges for stock, and with sufficient 
rainfall or proper irrigation its naturally fertile lands for farming purposes 
will rival any elsewhere. 

The Cherokee National Council, on May 19, 1883, passed an act directing 
the principal chief (D. W. Bushyhead) to execute a lease to the " Cherokee 
Strip Live Stock Association," composed of wealthy capitalists of Missouri, 
Kansas, and other States, and incorporated under the laws of Kansas, at an 
annual rental of # $ioo,ooo, payable semi-annually in advance, for grazing 
purposes, of all the unoccupied land of the Cherokee nation (about 6,000,000 
acres) " being and lying west of the 96th meridian and west of the Arkansas 
river.-" The lease was dated July 5, 1883, and was to extend from October 
1, 1883, over a period of five years. It expired in 1888, and has not been 
renewed. 



PROVISIONS OF THE SPRINGER BILL. 

AS IT PASSED THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, FEBRUARY I, 1 889. 



BOUNDARIES OF THE TERRITORY RIGHTS OF THE INDIANS RESERVED. 

(Section i.) 

This bill (H. R. 10,614) to organize the Territory of Oklahoma, and 
for other purposes, while denning the boundaries (see p. 13) of the 
Territory, reserves to the Indians all their rights of persons and property 
and occupancy of lands under the laws and treaties of the United States, 
executive order or other lawful authority, and no lands lawfully occupied 
by the Indians are to be included without their consent within 
the limits or jurisdiction of any State or Territory, except for judicial pur- 
poses as provided, reserving also the authority of the United States to 
make any regulation or law respecting such Indians, their lands, property, 
or other rights. 

TERRITORIAL OFFICERS, LEGISLATURE, DELEGATE, ETC. 

(Sections 2 and 3.) 
The organization of a Territorial government is provided for, as also the 
the appointment by the President of its executive and judicial officers, and 
the election of a legislature and delegate to Congress, said officers after the 
the expiration of five years from the organization of the Territory to be 
selected from the bona fide residents of the Territory. The Constitution 
and laws of the United States not locally inapplicable are extended over 
the Territory ; the existing local governments of the Indians are not to be 
disturbed, and the jurisdiction of the Territorial Supreme Court is defined 
as embracing all causes of action, crimes, and offenses arising within the 
limits of the Territory. The laws giving jurisdiction to United States 
courts are repealed. 

PUBLIC LAND STRIP. 

(Section 4.) 
The Public Land Strip is declared a part of the public domain open to 
settlement under the homestead laws only, reserving the 16th and 36th 
sections in each township as school lands, but the provisions of section 
2301, R. Stats., is not to apply to any entry of said land. 

SETTLEMENT OF THE UNAPPROPRIATED LANDS — HOW, WHEN, BY WHOM 

PRICE PER ACRE, AND AREA OF ENTRY, ETC. 

(Sections 5 and 6.) 
The assent in a legal manner of the Cherokees, Seminoles, and Creeks 
is to be obtained before the opening to sale and settlement (at $1.25 per 



acre, in quantities of 160 acres each, by actual settlers, bona fide citizens 
head of families or over 2 r years of age,) of the unappropriated lands ceded 
by those Indians to the United States, reserving the 16th and 36th sections in 
each township as school lands, and no entry of lands is to be permitted 
prior to the assent of the Indians or before the time fixed by the President 
for the opening of the lands tosettlement ; an accurate account is to*be kept 
of the proceeds of such sales, placed to the account of the Indians, and a 
commission is to ascertain whether they are entitled to further com- 
pensation. 

ESTABLISHMENT OF LAND OFFICES — PAYMENTS FOR AND CONDITIONS OF 
ENTRY OF LAND — SOLDIERS' RIGHTS — NO BENEFITS TO RAIL- 
ROAD OR OTHER CORPORATIONS, ETC. 

(Section 7.) 
Four land offices, with the usual officers to conduct their business, are 
to be established by the President ; all unsurveyed lands are to be surveyed 
and subdivided ; all lands entered are to be square in form ; continuous 
personal residence on the land, and its cultivation and improvement, for 
three years, in the manner prescribed by the homestead laws, are exacted 
as conditions of entry, and not less than 40 acres must be broken and 
plowed before title may be claimed or issue. Payments, where required, 
are to be made in four equal installments, the first within 6 months from 
the date of entry, the second at the expiration of 12 months, the third at 
the expiration of 2 years, and the fourth and last at the expiration of 3 
years from date of entry. Around every section of land four rods wide 
are reserved as public highways, but no deduction in the amount to be 
paid for each quarter section is to be made by reason of such reservations. 
If the highway should be vacated by any competent authority the title to 
the respective strips is to inure to the benefit of the then owner of the tract 
of which it formed a part by the original survey. The rights of honorably 
discharged soldiers on the public lands are reserved unimpaired. No ex- 
tinguishment of the Indian title for the benefit directly or indirectly of any 
railroad or other corporation, or any assignee or mortgagee of any road or 
corporation, is permitted. All acts of any officer or agent of the United 
States and of the Indians granting lands, or which might validate or give 
effect to any grant of land, to any railroad or other corporation, are de- 
clared null and void, and all lands and rights granted to the Atlantic and 
Pacific R. R. Co. by the act of January 27, 1866, are declared forfeited. 

HOMESTEADS ONLY TO ACTUAL SETTLERS, CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES 

LANDS ENTERED NOT LIABLE TO DEBTS PRIOR TO FINAL PROOF — 
DECLARATORY STATEMENT, ETC. 

(Section 8.) 
I Iomestead forms and the general principles and provisions of the home- 
stead laws, except three instead of fwe years' continuous residence on and 
cultivation of and payment for the land, are to apply to all entries, and 
patents will only issue to bona file citizens at date of final proof and pay- 
ment. Final proof and payment, except in cases of contest, are required 
to be made within three months after the expiration of three years from 



18 

date of entry, and on default in that or in payment of any installment of 
the purchase money when due, the entry is made liable to cancellation and 
the money paid forfeited to the United States. All sales, leases, convey- 
ances, and mortgages of the public lands prior to final proof and payment, 
and the»register's or receiver's record of the same, are forbidden and de- 
clared absolutely null and void ; the lands entered are not liable for any 
indebtedness or obligation incurred previous to issue of patent, and all 
assignments, transfers, and mortgages of unpatented lands are declared to 
be at the risk of the assignees, transferres, and mortgagees. 

Homesteads only to actual settlers. No preferred right to entry will be 
allowed to any person by reason of claim of occupancy prior to the appli- 
cation to enter, except in cases of actual occupancy and continued resi- 
dence on the land to the date of application to enter. No right of an 
alleged settler as such shall attach to land until the date of his actual bona 
fide and continuous residence on the land. Declaratory statement must 
contain a true and full recital of the date and facts of residence and last 
place of residence prior thereto, and detailed description of improvements, 
all verified by the oath of the applicant and at least one credible witness be- 
fore the register or receiver of the proper land office as to all facts, except 
that proof of the applicants place of residence may be made before any 
officer authorized by law to administer oaths. False swearing thereto sub- 
jects affiant to the same penalty as if sworn to before the proper register or 
receiver. 

TOWNSITES — PARKS OR RESERVATIONS. 

(Section 9.) 
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to reserve any public land 
as townsites for any existing or prospective town, city, or village, in areas 
not exceeding 640 acres each, in compact form, or such additional area in 
governmental subdivisions as may wholly or in part be occupied as a town, 
city, or village site. All applications to enter land within half mile of a 
railroad constructed, or within that distance of a railroad not constructed, 
but where its map of location was filed with the Secretary at the date of 
application to enter the land, must be approved by the Secretary, as also of 
any land on which at date of application is a town or village settlement, 
and no settlement in advance of survey by proper authority shall give any 
right as against the power of the Secretary to reserve townsites, the object 
being to secure to the inhabitants of all towns, cities, and villages the 
benefits and profits arising from sales of lots therein. Lots in any town- 
site are by the Secretary to be offered, sold, and conveyed under the pro- 
visions of section 2,382 and 2,383 of Revised Statutes. Proceeds of sales 
of lots in townsites, less the amounts due the Indians, are to constitute a 
school fund, to be expended by the Secretary in the erection of school 
buildings and the support of public schools, until the legal incorpora- 
tion of the respective towns, cities or villages, when the title to unsold 
portions of such sites will vest in the municipality and the proceeds thereof, as 
well as any balance in the hands of the Secretary, paid to the local authorities 
and be devoted to public purposes within the coporate limits. The Secre- 
tary is empowered to make all needful rules and regulations to carry into 
effect any details not specifically provided for. In all surveys of townsites 



19 

are to be reservations lor a park or parks, of substantially equal areas if 
more than one, and for other public purposes, embracing in the aggregate not 
less than 10 nor more than 20 acres ; but no deduction isallowed on account of 
these reservations in the sums to be paid for said townsites, and patents 
for such reservations shall be issued to the towns respectively when organized 
as municipalities. 

LAM iS TO BE OPENED TO SETTLEMENT — SECRETARY TO FIX PRICE OF LAND, 
NOT TO EXCEED Si. 25 PER ACRE. 

(Section 10.) 

All lands not required by law, treaty stipulations, executive order, or 
right of occupancy for the use of any Indian tribe, or which may be re- 
linquished as an Indian reservation, are to be opened to settlement, and 
the President is authorized to fix to actual settlers the price of lands pur- 
chased from the Indians not to exceed $1.25 per acre, the proceeds to con- 
stitute a fund for the benefit of the Indians. 

COMMISSION TO NEGOTIATE CESSION OF LANDS AND ASCERTAIN WHAT COM- 
PENSATION MAY BE DUE THE INDIANS. 

(Section n.) 
A commission of five, not more than three of whom are to be of the 
same political party, is to be appointed by the President, to open negotia- 
tions with the Cherokees, Seminoles, and Creeks to secure their consent in 
a legal manner, to the opening to settlement of the unoccupied land ceded 
to the United States by the Indian treaties of 1866, and to ascertain what 
additional sum may be due those Indians in compensation for the lands 
thus ceded. The commission is authorized to enter into such agreements 
with the Indians as it may deem necessary to accomplish this purpose, sub- 
ject to the approval or rejection of the President The compensation of the 
< nmmission is fixed at $10 per day, with traveling expenses and stationery 
and postage, and is allowed a Secretary at a per diem of $6 and traveling 
expenses. 

UNLAWFUL AND FRAUDULENT ENTRIES — MISDEMEANOR AND PENALTY. 

(Section 12.) 
Settlement on any lands opened to settlement by this act, or to directly 
or indirectly procure the settlement of any such land by any person, with 
a view of afterwards acquiring title to said lands from said occupant for 
himself or for any company, association or corporation, is declared unlawful 
and fraudulent. Parties to such fraudulent settlement are declared guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and the penalty on conviction fixed at $1000 fine or 
twelve month's imprisonment, or both, in the discretion of the court. 

UNLAWFUL LEASES AND REMOVAL OF LESSEES. 

(Section 13.) 
All leases of lands belonging to the United States, or held in common 
by any of the Indian tribes within the Territory, including the Cherokee 
strip west of the 96th meridian, whether controlled by persons or by cor- 
porations or others, except such leases as are held for the purpose of culti- 
vating the soil strictly for farming purposes, are declared null and void and 



20 

contrary to public policy ; and the removal from said lands of all such 
lessees, and all persons illegally occupying the same, is made the duty of the 
President immediately after the passage of the act. 

REPEAL OF ALL RAILROAD LAND GRANTS AND FORFEITURE OF RAILROAD 

LANDS. 

(Section 14.) 
The grants to the State of Kansas in aid of the construction of the 
Kansas and Neosho Valley Railroad and its extension to the Red river, and 
in aid of the construction of the Southern Branch of the Union Pacific 
railway and telegraph from Ft. Riley, Kans., to Ft. Smith, Ark., and all 
other grants for railroad purposes within the Indian Territory and Public 
Land Strip, except for the right of way and necessary stations now pro- 
vided by law, are repealed. And all and any rights to said lands are for- 
feited to the United States; and no railroad company now organized or 
hereafter to be organized shall ever acquire any lands in aid of the construc- 
tion of its road, or in consequence of any railroad already constructed, either 
from the Uniied States or any Indian tribe or from the territorial govern- 
ment within the limits of the proposed Territory of Oklakoma. 

ALL INDEBTEDNESS FOR PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS PROHIBITED. 

(Section 15.) 
The legislature and the counties, towns, and cities of the Territory are 
prohibited to create or contract any indebtedness for any work of public 
improvements, or in aid of any railroad constructed or to be constructed, 
or to subscribe for or purchase any shares of stocks of any railroad company 
or corporation. 

LANDS OF GREER COUNTY EXCEPTED*. 

(Section 16.) 
The provisions of the act not to apply to any lands within the limits of 
what is known as Greer county until the determination of the question of 
title thereto in favor of the United States. 

The aim and effect of the bill is in favor of the actual settlement of the 
land by bona fide homesteaders — its actual and permanent occupation and 
cultivation by American citizens in small farms of 160 acres each, excluding 
all cattle, railroad, and other syndicates or bosses. 



FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES. 



These five civilized tribes, as communities, have greatly advanced in 
civilization, Savagery and barbarism in their grosser forms have practi- 
cally disappeared from among them. They have constitutional forms of 
government and system of laws based on those of our States. Many of 
their principal men are educated and possessed of much ability. Christian 
churches and the finest schools liberally supported are established among 
them. All the avenues or avocations of business or trade are intelligently 
and industriously occupied by them and in many instances with lucrative 
rewards, and in all the external forms of their civilization these Indians 
greatly resemble their white neighbors. But the wealthy among them are 
apparently oblivious of the oppressions and sufferings which they or their 
fathers endured in their early homes af the hands of the white man, and 
against which they so long, so loudly, and so pathetically protested, or 
wholly ignore them, and are afflicted with the least amiable of "the 
white man's ways," as manifested in their maintenance of the tribal ten- 
ure of the land, in which they emulate all the cupidity and greed of their 
early Saxon oppressors, supporting them with like agencies — usurpation, 
injustice, and tyranny. Under this tribal tenure all the land in theory is 
held in common by the whole community, equally owned by every mem- 
ber of the tribe, but are practically, in fact, monopolized by the grasping 
and avaricious few. Many of the wealthy cultivating tribal lands pay 
no rent for their use into the common treasury for the benefit of the poorer 
or less fortunate of their race, who, nevertheless, under this tribal tenure, 
have an equal share in the soil. The rich and choice lands have thus al- 
ready been appropriated by the most enterprising and self-seeking. Many 
of their farms contain 500 and 1000 acres, abundantly stocked, and en- 
closed within wire fences. The proprietor of one of these immense estates 
of a thousand acres, under the tribal tenure, has the power to add an addi- 
tional 1000 acres to his farm by excluding all others from the occupation 
of lands for a distance of a quarter of a mile all around the tract fenced. 

Commissioner of Indian Affairs J. D. C. Atkins, in .his annual report 
for 1886, describes a case which came within his personal observation on a 
visit in 1885, to the Creek nation. He says, 

A case of this sort came under my personal observation on a visit to the Creek nation 
in 18S5. I was credibly informed that one of the Creeks had under fence over 1,000 
acres, and, of course, under their laws and usages, he had the right to exclude all other 
members of the tribe from claiming any land embraced within the limits of a quarter of 
a mile in width surrounding the inclosed farm of 1,000 acres, provided he made the first 
location. This estate was handsomely managed, with many modern methods and im- 
provements. A costly residence stood upon it, and large, commodious barns, stables, 
(Sic, were provided. The owner cultivated this farm with laborers hired among his own 
race — perhaps his own kith and kin — at $16 permonth, and they lived inhutsandcabins 
on the place without a month's provisions ahead for themselves and families. They 
owned of course their tribal interest in the land, but the proceeds of the valuable crops 
which were raised by their labor swelled the plethoric pockets of the proprietor. In this 



22 

instance the crops grown, in addition to large quantities of hay, consisted of 25,000 
bushels of corn, fattening for market 200 head of beef cattle and 300 head of hogs. The 
proprietor grows annually richer, while the laborers, his own race, joint owners of the 
soil, even of the lands that he claims and individually appropriates, grow annually and 
daily poorer and less able to assert their equal ownership and tribal claim and, shall I 
say, constitutional privilege and treaty rights. 

Commissioner Atkins adds : 

Now this condition of semi-slavery, shall I call it, exists in each of the five civilized 
nations, and grows directly out of the holding of lands in common, and is necessarily in- 
herent in this system of tenantry. 

And Indian Agent Owens, in his annual report of 1886, also says: 

The Washita valley, in the Chickasaw nation, is almost a solid farm for 50 miles. It 
is cultivated by white labor largely, with Chickasaw landlords. I saw one farm there 
said to contain 8,000 acres, another 4,000, and many other large and handsome places. 

Commissioner Atkins, with some indignation, declares : 
I have endeavored to obtain some reliable data as to the number of farms containing 1,000 
acres which exist in the five tribes. It did not occur to me that eight times that amount 
of rich valley land had been appropriated by one proprietor, that another owner had 
4,000 acres, and that there were "many other very large and handsome places" in the 
same valley, each owned by individual proprietors, but all being tribal lands. A system 
of laws and customs, where tribal relations exist and lands are owned in common, which 
permits one Indian to own so large a quantity of land, to the exclusion of all other In- 
dians, merely because he was first to occupy it, or because he inherited it from his father, 
who occupied it originally, when all other Indians have equal tribal rights with the happy 
and fortunate possessor, needs radical reformation. Are these the sacred rig/its secured 
by treaty , which the United States are pledged to respect and defend? If so, then the 
United States are pledged to uphold and maintain a stupendous land monopoly and 
aristocracy that finds no parallel in this country, except in two or three localities in the 
far West ; and in these instances it may be said that the titles are clear (having 
been obtained by purchase from the Government), however questionable may be the 
policy which makes it possible for one man to own unlimited quantities of land. 

The only claim to these " baronial estates " are founded in usurpation — 
in a practical seizure of the land by the first occupant, or by inheritance 
in the resident from his father, who had originally spoliated the land and 
transmitted it to his descendants after the manner of the early feudal 
barons. 

Here we have among these five civilized tribes, the dominant people of 
the Territory, with the cognizance of the United States, a grinding aris- 
tocracy of wealth, usurping the land, the basis of all power, crushing out 
the manhood of the majority, fixing them in a permanent and dependent 
or semi-servile state of ignorance and poverty, and rendering them incapa- 
ble of asserting or maintaining their liberties and rights under their own 
system of laws. 

Hence, what in effect these five civilized tribes claim from the United 
States in demanding protection under the intercourse laws against "the 
aggressions of white intruders," is the maintenance of the tyrannical usur- 
pations by the wealthy and powerful few over the land, and that protection 
for fifty years they have received from the United States army in the harsh 
and somewhat cruel expulsion of all white intruders, such as Captains Payne 
and Couch and their "boomers" in their several incursions into the "Ter- 
ritory" — in the expulsion of all intruders except the cattle kings or cowboys, 
with whom for gold in the form of rent they combine in a monopoly of the 
land. Consequently, these powerful leaders, these grasping usurpers of the 
land, secure in the support of the army, employ all their great influence in 



23 

resisting any modification of their tribal land tenure, all dismemberment of 
their territory for the purposes of white settlement, all plans for the indi- 
vidual allotment of land in severalty to the mass of the Indian population, 
under which every Indian, even of those now wandering round as day - 
laborers, "poor, weak, and ignorant," would be endowed with a definite and 
permanent home, a valid homestead invested in himself and children, which 
by the exercise of reasonable labor in its cultivation, would yield him a live- 
lihood, and render him and his children respectable and independent. 

No oppression or robbery of the Indian by the white man in the past or 
present, or in degree or character, surpasses that thus inflicted by our In- 
dian barons on the masses of their own race. Our Indian autocrat becomes 
himself the spoiler of the Indian — a rival of the white man in cupidity and 
greed in the spoliation of his race. 

It has been very justly urged that the treaties with these Indians never 
contemplated " an idea so un-American and absurd " as the establishment 
in our midst of a separate, foreign, or independent nationality or sov- 
ereignty, with absolute power to shape its forms of government or laws 
without regard to the surrounding civilization. Such an idea is utterly 
repugnant to the genius of our institutions. These Indians are simply 
the wards of the nation. As such they are amenable to its lawful control. 
They have no just right under their treaties with the United States, no 
right under our laws to an independent sovereignty, as inimical to our in- 
stitutions, as hcstile to all progress and civilization, as that attempted in 
Utah by the Morman worshipers of " the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter 
Day Saints." * 

* " Mr. Hermann, of Oregon. Is it not deslinctly understood by the Indian tribes, and is 
it not now claimed by them, that it was the moving conditions of their treaties of cessions 
that their lands should be used for the permanent settlement of friendly and civilized 
Indians? 

" Mr. Weaver, of Iowa, The title to that land does not depend on what the Indians 
claim, but on the language of the treaty. Now, the treaty of cession shows the purpose 
for which these Indians Darted with their land. Their motive was to secure money 
required by them to stock their farms and with which to build houses and fences. That 
is shown in the record. The Creeks and Seminoles ceded all their lands, including Ok- 
lahoma and the land then occupied by them, and bought of the government other land 
to the east, which was more fertile and better timbered. This is the land which consti- 
tutes their reservations. I do not understand, Mr, Chairman, that any thing the Indians 
may now claim has anything more to do with the question than a mere averment in a 
plea. It depends altogether on the testimony. 

"Mr. Hermann. I understand the gentleman to say that the Indians do not claim 
what I suggested. 

" Mr. Weaver, of Iowa. They do not claim title." * * * 

" Mr. Struble, of Iowa. The Indians claim everything they can claim. They are 
sharp fellows. They and their friends in this House are asserting that by reason of the 
third article in the treatise of 1866 — 

[" Act III. In compliance with the desire of the United States to locate other Indians 
and freedmen thereon," the Creeks and Seminoles "cede and convey." &c] 
surh an equity obtains between the government and these Indians that, although by these 
treaties they voluntarily parted with their legal title, we have no authority to extend 
our political jurisdiction over the land ceded by them in 1866 ; they having sold it as they 
allege for the sole purpose of the settlement thereon of friendly Indians. 

" Mr. Herrmann. Was it not specifically stipulated that these lands were to be used 
for (he specific purpose ? 

" Mr. Struble. No, sir, not in terms." 

Debate in House of Representatives, June 3, 1S66. 



24 

Hence, the really practical issue thus raised by the usurpations, tyranny, 
and greedy inhumanity of the dominant classes of these five tribes or na- 
tions is not so much a legal one under their treaties as one between barbar- 
ism and the forces of civilization. Shall these Indian autocrats be allowed 
to fix a boundary to the progress of civilization within the republic ? Shut 
out from their surplus lands the enterprising and thrifty civilized white man ? 
Will the United States continue to recognize and support the loi-g existing 
alliance of the autocratic Indian oppressor with the cattle kings. That is 
the practical issue.* 

• At the date of its creation, in 1830, this Indian Territory constituted a 
part of the " Great Far West," a part of our surplus lands on the ex- 
treme borders of the republic, outside of all civilized white settlement, 
and not required by any want or demand of our people. All these con- 
ditions have long since ceased to exist. The " Far West" has removed 
to the Pacific coast, leaving these unoccupied and fertile lands a vast wil- 
derness in the midst of a teeming civilization. Nor has the United States 
now a surplus of lands ; its population is increasing in an unprecedented 
ratio, while its public domain is rapidly diminishing, and thousands of our 
homeless people are demanding homes on these unoccupied Indian lands. 
Why should these lands be denied them ? Their demand is in the interest 
of civilizationf 

It contemplates no injustice to the Indians, no removal of the Indians 
from their present firesides or homes, no violation of the real object or pur- 
pose of any Indian treaty. Our homeless people only ask the privilege or 
right to establish homes on lands unoccupied by these Indians, impossible 

*'' Secure in the protection of Uncle Sam ; their exchequers bursting with the golden 
product of perpetual annuities and temporary gratuities; more fortunate than other rebel 
communities of the south, in that they are relieved from all care for the support of the 
government that upholds and protects them; with a thousand acres per capita of the richest 
agricultural lands in the United States ; and blocking the pathway of civilization — with 
all these blessings the Indians ought to be able to pick their teeth in contentment. 

" But like the dog in the manger they are unwilling that others should share what they 
cannot use. Sole lords over a dominion broad enough to support 2,000,000 people, they 
are alarmed and pained that the civilization which has magnanimously refrained from dis- 
puting their greedy position is disposed to go around them and plant itself to the west of 
them. So they hie themselves to their faithful friends,, the cattle barons, for comfort and 
advice. Between them they trump up an argument whereby they fondly hope to con- 
vince the people of this country that 23,000,000 acres of land virtually unoccupied and 
lying wholly beyond the five civilized tribes should be still longer reserved from public 
settlement for the financial benefit of the cattle kings and the parasites which always infest 
a great political monopoly like our Indian system." — Hon. Isaac S. Stntble, of Iowa f in 
House of Representatives, June j, 1SS6. 

f" The imperative necessity of preserving the cattle-man in his unlawful possessions, the 
outlaw in his immunity from justice, the-Indian agent in his field for speculation, and the 
Indian in his mental and moral degradation, by a further continuance of the present 
anomalous and outrageous condition of affairs in the Indian Territory has been portrayed 
in vivid colors until we are almost led to believe that Anglo Saxon progress has reached 
an obstacle which it cannot surmount, and that the civilization of the revolver and bowie- 
knife is the only civilization possible in that benighted region." — Hon. Isaac S. Struble,. 
in House of Representatives, June j 1SS6. 



2J) 

to be utilized by them,* and from which they can derive no benefit, except 
by unlawful leases to the cattle bosses, and that not for the benefit of the 
great mass of the Indian population, but practically for the emolument of 
the usurping Indian autocrats. Why, then, should not these wealthy In- 
dian barons be required to " assent " to the opening to white settlement of 
the unappropriated lands of the tribes? Why, then, should they not be 
compelled to abandon their usurpations — be coerced to recognize the 
rights of the Indian people, to disgorge their ill-gotten estates, and submit 
to a distribution in severalty of the land among the tribal masses? Is not 
the United States bound by its treaty obligations to destroy, uproot, this, 
autocratic servile system, to protect the Indian people in an equal partici- 
pation in the profits of the soil, and advance the cause of civilization and 
freedom by maintaining the rights of the white man to a settlement and 
cultivation of all unoccupied lands of our domain? Neither under their 
treaties nor our laws have these Indians a right to monopolize these lands 
— to interdict their settlement by white and civilized races, especially as 
their settlement, for which the Indians will be amply paid under the 
Springer bill, will greatly enhance the value of their occupied lands, and 
surround them with all the grand benefits of an advancing civilization. 

Hence the Government, in the proposed establishment of the Territory 
of Oklahoma, simply yields to the demands of civilization and justice. 
Let it therefore be done, and done quickly. 

*" The vast surplusage of land in the Indian Territory, much of it, too, not surpassed 
anywhere for versatility and fertility of production, which can never be utilized by the 
Indians now within its border, nor by their descendants (for it is not probable that there 
will be any material increase in numbers of Indian papulation), must sooner or later be 
disposed of by Congress some way or other./' — Commissioner Indian Affairs Annual 
Report for 1886. 



PUBLIC LANDS IN OKLAHOMA-DISPOSAL 

THEREOF. 



The 1 2th, 13th, 14th, and 15th sections of the act of Congres; entitled, 
" An act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of 
the Indian Department, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various 
Indian tribes, for the year ending June 30th, 1890, and for other purposes," 
approved March 2, 1889, provides for throwing open to settlement by 
proclamation of the President a portion of the lands in the Indian Territory 
indicated therein as lands ceded to the United States or to be ceded to 
them by the Indian tribes having claims thereto. In pursuance thereof, the 
President issued his proclamation under date of the 23d, March, 1889, 
opening a portion of the lands referred to lying within certain boundaries 
therein specified to settlement at and after twelve o'clock, noon, of the 
2 2d of April next. To give effect to these provisions, two land districts, the 
western and eastern, have been established by the President, with the Land 
Office for the former at Kingfisher Stage Station, and for the latter at 
Guthrie, and public notice thereof given by the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office, March 27, 1889, in which the boundaries of the dis- 
tricts are respectively set forth. 

Parties having the prescribed legal qulifications may go upon the 
lands, except sections 16 and section 36, which are reserved 
for schools, at and after the day and hour named, and acquire 
incipient homestead rights thereto by bona fide acts of settlement, 
which may be perfected into complete title by subsequent com- 
pliance with legal requirements, or a party may, should he prefer, apply 
at the proper district land office and make entry prior to settlement, after 
which he will be allowed the period of six months within which to establish 
his residence on the land entered. If settlement precedes entry at the local 
office, the latter must be made within three months from date of settlement. 

The following is a statement of the provisions of the general homestead 
laws applicable to these lands, under existing conditions, viz : 

The homestead laws secure to qualified persons the right to settle upon, 
enter, and acquire title to not exceeding one quarter section or 160 acres of 
public land, by establishing and maintaining residence thereon, and im- 
proving and cultivating the land for the continuous period of five years. 

A homestead entryman must be the head of a family, or a person who has 
arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and a citizen of the United States, 
or one who has filed his declaration of intention to become such, as re- 
quired by the naturalization laws. 



Lands subject to homestead entry are such as, under existing laws, are 
subject to pre-emption, under the general pre-emption laws. 

When a person desires to enter a tract of land he must appear personally 
at the district land office and present his application (Form No. 4 — 007), 
and must make the required affidavits before the register or receiver, there 
being no county courts yet organized. 

A person in active service in the Army or Navy of the United States, 
whose family or some member thereof is residing on the land which he 
wishes to enter, and upon which a bona fide settlement ami improvement 
has been made by them, may make the affidavit required by law before the 
officer commanding in the branch of service in which the applicant is en- 
gaged. (Rev Stat., 2293.) 

A false oath taken before the proper officer, under section 2293, is per- 
jury, the same as if taken before the register or receiver. 

The period of actual inhabitancy, improvement, and cultivation required 
under the homestead law is five years 

Where a wife has been divorced from her husband or deserted, so that 
she is dependent upon her own resources for support, she can make home- 
stead entry as the head of a family or as a femme sole. 

A single woman who makes a homestead entry and marries before mak- 
ing proof does not by her marriage forfeit her right to make proof and 
receive patent for the land, provided she does not abandon her residence 
on the land to reside elsewhere. A residence elsewhere than on the land 
entered for more than six months at any one time is to be treated as an 
abandonment of the homestead entry, under section 2297, Revised Statutes. 

APPLICATION FOR A HOMESTEAD. 

To obtain a homestead the party should select and personally examine 
the land and be satisfied of its character and true description. 

He must file an application stating his name, residence, and post-office 
address, and describing the land he desires to enter (Form 4 — 007), and 
make affidavit (Form 4 — 063) ; that he is over the age of twenty-one 
years or the head of a family; that he is a native-born (or naturalized) 
citizen of the United States, or has declared his intention to become a 
citizen, as required by the naturalization laws (or has performed service 
in the Army or Navy of the United States); and that the entry is made 
for his exclusive use and benefit, and for actual settlement and cultivation, 
and not either directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other 
person, and that he has not theretofore made an entry under the home- 
stead laws, and must pay the legal fee and that part of the commissions 
which is payable when entry is made. 

But a party who, prior to said act of March 2, 1889, made a homestead 
entry and for any cause failed to secure a title in fee, or who commuted 
his entry, will not be required to make oath that he had not made an 
entry, but may make affidavit to the facts of such entry, and failure to 
acquire a title in fee or to the commutation of his former entry, describing 
the land by legal subdivisions, or giving the number and date of entry 
with the land office where made, and may, thereupon, be permitted to make 
entry again. In the case of parties who make entries subsequent to the 
date of said act, the following general rule will apply, viz : 



28 

ONLY ONE HOMESTEAD PRIVILEGE TO THE SAME PERSON PERMITTED. 

As the law allows but one homestead privilege, a settler relinquishing 
or abandoning his claim cannot thereafter make a second entry, although 
where the entry is canceled as invalid for some reason other than abandon- 
ment, and not the wilful act of the party, he is not thereby debarred from 
entering again, if in other respects entitled, and may have the fee and 
commissions paid on the canceled entry refunded on proper application 
under the act of June 16, 1880. (Hannah M. Brown, 4 L. D., 9; 
Goist vs. Bottum, 5, L. D., 643; Jasper N. Shepherd, 6 L. D., 362.) 

Where a party makes a selection of land for a homestead he must abide 
by his choice. If he has neglected to examine the character of the land 
prior to entry and it proves to be inferior or otherwise unsatisfactory he 
must suffer the consequences of his own neglect. 

In some cases, however, where obstacles which could not have been 
foreseen, and which render it impracticable to cultivate the land, are dis- 
covered subsequently to entry (such as the impossibility of obtaining water 
by digging wells or otherwise), or where, subsequently to entry, and 
through no fault of the homesteader, the land becomes useless for agri- 
cultural purposes (as where by the deposit of "tailings', in the channel of 
a stream a dam is formed, causing the waters to overflow,) the entry may, 
in the discretion of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, be can- 
celed and a second entry allowed ; but, in the event of a new entry, the 
party will be required to show the same compliance with law in connection 
therewith as though he had not made a previous entry, and must pay the 
proper fees and commissions upon the same. 

On compliance by the party with the foregoing requirements for 
making entry, the receiver will issue his receipt for the fee and that part 
of the commissions paid (Form 4 — 137), a duplicate of which he will 
deliver to the party. The matter will then be entered on the records of 
the district office and reported to the General Land Office. 

SIMULTANEOUS APPLICATIONS. 

In cases of simultaneous applications to enter the same tract of land 
under the homestead laws, the rule is as follows ; 

First. Where neither party has improvements on the land the right of 
entry should be awarded to the highest bidder. 

Second. Where one has actual settlement and improvement and the 
other has not, it should be awarded to the actual settler. 

Third. Where both allege settlement and improvements, an investiga- 
tion must be had and the right of entry awarded to the one who shows 
prior actual settlement and substantial improvements so as to be notice on 
the ground to any competitor. (Report of General Land Office for 1866, 
p, 19 ; also case of Helfrich vs. King, 3 Copp, L. O., p. 164.) 

RESIDENCE OF APPLICANT MUST BE STATED. 

The applicant must in every case state in his application his place of 
actual residence and his post-office address, in order that notices of pro- 
ceedings relative to his entry may be sent him. 



•J!) 
INCEPTIVE RIGHTS OF HOMESTEAD SETTLERS. 

An inceptive right is vested in the settler by the proceedings herein- 
before described. He must, within, six months after making his entry, estab- 
lishhis actual residence, in a house upon the land, and must reside upon and 
cultivate the land continuously, in accordance with law, for the term of 
five years. 

Occasional visits to the land once in six months or oftener is not resi- 
dence. The homestead party must actually inhabit the land and make it 
the home of himself and family, as well as improve and cultivate it. 

At the expiration of five years, or within two years thereafter, he may 
make proof of his compliance with law by residence, improvement, and 
cultivation for the full period required, and must show that the land has 
not been alienated except as provided in section 2288, Revised Statutes. 
(Sec. 2291, Rev. Stat.) 

The period of continuous residence and cultivation begins to run at the 
date of actual settlement, in case the entry at the district land office is 
made within the prescribed period (three months) thereafter or before the 
intervention of a valid adverse claim. (Act May 14, 1880 ; 21 Stat., 140.) 

CULTIVATION IN GRAZING DISTRICTS. 

In grazing districts, stock-raising and dairy production are so nearly 
akin to agricultural pursuits as to justify the issue of patent upon proof of 
permanent settlement and the use of the land for such purposes. 

FINAL PROOF. 

A settler desiring to make final proof must file with the register of the 
proper land office a written notice, in the prescribed form, of his inten- 
tion to do so, which notice will be published by the register in a news- 
paper to be by him designated as nearest the land, once a week for six 
weeks, at the applicant's expense. 

Applicants should commence to make their proofs in sufficient time, so 
that the same may be completed and filed in the local office within the 
statutory period of seven years from date of entry. 

Proofs can only be made by the homestead claimant in person, and can 
not be made by an agent, attorney, assignee, or other person, except that 
in case of the death of the entryman, proof can be made by the statutory 
successor to the homestead right, in the manner provided by law. 

HEIRS OF A HOMESTEAD SETTLER. 

Where a homestead settler dies before the consummation of his claim, 
the widow, or in case of her death, the heirs, may continue settlement or 
cultivation and obtain title upon requisite proof at the proper time. 
If the widow proves up, title passes to her; if she dies before proving up 
and the heirs make the proof, the title will vest in them. (Sec. 2291, Rev. 
Stat.) 

Where both parents die, leaving infant children, the homestead may be 
sold for cash for the benefit of such children, and the purchaser will re- 
ceive title from the United States, or residence and cultivation may con- 



30 

tinue for the prescribed period, when the patent will issue to the children. 
(Sec. 2292, Rev. Stat.) 

A homestead right cannot be devised away from a widow or minor 
children. 

In case of the death of a person after having entered a homestead, the 
failure of the widow, children, or devisee of the deceased to take up resi- 
dence on the land within six months after the entry, or otherwise to fulfill 
the demands of the letter of the law as to residence, will not necessarily 
subject the entry to forfeiture on the ground of abandonment. If the 
land is cultivated in good faith the law will be considered as having 
been substantially complied with. (Tauer vs. The Heirs of Walter A. 
Mann, 4 L. D., 433.) 

HOMESTEAD CLAIMANTS WHO BECOME INSA.NE. 

The rights of a homestead claimant who has become insane may, under 
act of June 8, 1880, be proved up and his claim perfected by any person 
duly authorized to act for him during his disability. (21 Statute, 166.) 

Such claim must have been initiated in full compliance with law, by a 
person who was a citizen or had declared his intention of becoming a citi- 
zen, and was in other respects duly qualified. 

The party for whose benefit the act shall be invoked must have become 
insane subsequently to the initiation of his claim. 

Claimant must have complied with the law up to the time of becom- 
ing insane, and proof of compliance will be required to cover only the 
period prior to such insanity, but the act will not be construed to cure a 
failure to comply with the law when the failure occurred prior to such 
insanity. 

The final proof must be made by a party whose authority to act for the 
insane person during his disability shall be duly certified under seal of 
the proper probate court. 

CLIMATIC HINDRANCES. 

The proviso annexed to section 2297, Revised Statutes, by amendatory 
act of March 3, 1881, (21 Stat., 511), provides that in case such settler 
has been prevented by climatic reasons from establishing actual residence 
upon his homestead within six months from date of entry, the Commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office may, in his discretion, allow him twelve 
months from that date in which to commence his residence. 

In such case the settler must, on final proof, file with the register and 
receiver his affidavit, duly corroborated by two credible witnesses, setting 
forth in detail the storms, floods, blockades by snow or ice, or other hind- 
rances dependent upon climatic causes which rendered it impossible for 
him to commence residence within six months. A claimant can not be al- 
lowed twelve months from entry when it can be shown that he might have 
established his residence on the land at an earlier day ; and a failure to ex- 
ercise proper diligence in so doing as soon as possible after the climatic 
hindrances disappear, will imperil his entry in case of a contest. 

HOMESTEAD CLAIMS NOT LIABLE FOR DEBT AND NOT SALABLE. 

No lands acqiiired under the provisions of the homestead laws are liable 



31 

for the satisfaction of any debt contracted prior to the issue of patent. (Sec. 
2296, Rev. Stat. I 

The sale of a homestead claim by the settler to another party before com- 
pletion of title vests no title or equities in the purchaser as against the 
United States. In making final proof, the settler is by law required to 
swear that no part of the land has been alienated except for church, ceme- 
tery, or school purposes, or the right of way of railroad. (Sec. 2288, Rev. 
Stat.) 

HOMESTEAD FEES AND COMMISSIONS. 

The land office fees and commissions, payable -when application is made, 
are as follows : 



For 160 acres 
For 80 acres .. 
For 40 acres .. 



Land at 

$2.50 per 

acre. 


Land at 

#1.25 per 

acre. 


$18 00 
9 00 
7 00 


$14 00 
7 00 
6 00 



The land office commissions, payable at the time of making final proof, 
are as follows : 



Land at 
£2.50 per 



For 160 acres #8 00 

For 80 acres 4 00 

For 40 acres ._ 2 00 



Land at 
$1-25 per 



$4 00 
2 00 
1 00 



It is understood that all the Oklahoma, lands are held at S1.25 per acre, and none at 
£2.50 per acre. 

SOLDIERS 1 AND SAILORS' HOMESTEAD RIGHTS. 

Any officer, soldier, seaman, or marine who served for not less than 
ninety days in the Army or Navy of the United States during the rebellion, 
and who was honorably discharged and has remained loyal to the Govern- 
ment and who makes a homestead entry of 160 acres or less on any land 
subject to such entry, is entitled under section 2305 of the Revised Statutes 
to have the term of his service in the Army or Navy, not exceeding four 
years, deducted from the period of five years' residence required under the 
homestead laws. 

If the party was discharged from service on account of wounds or dis- 
abilities incurred in the line of duty the whole term of enlistment, not 
exceeding four years, is to be deducted from the homestead period of five 
years ; but no patent can issue to any homestead settler who has not re- 



32 

sided upon, improved, and cultivated his homestead for a period of at least 
one year after he commenced his improvements. (Sec. 2305, Revised 
Statutes.) 

A party applying to make entry under the provisions of section 2304 
must file with the register and receiver a certified copy of his certificate 
of discharge, showing when he enlisted and when he was discharged ; or 
the affidavit of two respectable, disinterested witnesses corroborative of the 
allegations contained in the prescribed affidavit (Form 4 — 065) on these 
points, or, if neither can be procured, his own affidavit to that effect. 

A SOLDIER MAY FILE A DECLARATORY STATEMENT IN PERSON. 

The filing must be accompanied by the oath of the soldier, stating his 
residence and post-office address, and setting forth that the claim is made 
for his exclusive use and benefit, for the purpose of actual settlement and 
cultivation, and not either directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of 
any other person ; and that he has not theretofore either made a homestead 
entry or filed a declaratory statement under the homestead law (Form 4 — 
546). The fee is $2. 

A SOLDIER'S CLAIM MAY BE FILED BY AN AGENT. 

Any such officer, soldier, sailor or marine may file his claim for a tract 
of land through an agent, and may have six months thereafter within 
which to make his actual entry and commence his settlement and improve- 
ments upon the land. (Revised Statutes, 2309.) 

In addition to the oath heretofore prescribed, the oath, in case of filing 
"by an agent, must further declare the name and authority of the agent and 
the date of the power of attorney or other instrument- creating the agency, 
adding that the name of the agent was inserted therein before its execution. 
It should also state in terms that the agent has no right or interest, direct 
or indirect, in the filing of such declaratory statement (Form 4 — 545). 

The agent must file (in addition to his power of attorney) his own oath 
to the effect that he has no interest, either present or prospective, direct 
or indirect, in the claim ; that the same is filed for the sole benefit of the 
soldier, and that no arrangement has been made whereby said agent has 
been empowered at any future time to sell or relinquish such claim, either 
as agent or by filing an original relinquishment of the claimant (Form 4 — 

545- 

As implied by the requirement of the oath, a soldier will be held to have 

exhausted his homestead right by the filing of his declaratory statement ; it 
being manifest that the right to file is a privilege granted to soldiers in ad- 
dition to the ordinary privilege only in the matter of giving them power to 
hold their claims for six months after selection, before entry ; but is not a 
license to abandon such selection with the right thereafter to make a regular 
homestead entry independently of such filing. This is clear from the stat- 
utory language. Section 2304 provides that "the settler shall be allowed 
six months, after locating his homestead and filing his declaratory state- 
ment, within which to make his entry and commence his settlement and 
improvement;" and section 2309 requires him "in person" to "make 
his actual entry, commence settlement and improvement on the same, and 



33 

thereafter fulfill all the requirements of law." These must be done on 
•• the same " land selected and located by the filing. 

The foregoing rule, however, will not be construed to require the rejec- 
tion of an application to enter the tract filed upon after the lapse of six 
months, when climatic reasons are shown, which in case of an actual entry 
would, under the act of March 3, 1881, (21 Stat., 511), justify an allow- 
ance of one year for establishing residence; nor in cases where the failure 
results from sickness, misfortune, or any insurmountable cause, which shall 
be properly alleged and satisfactorily shown, and where no adverse right 
has intervened. 

Where such cause has prevented entry and an adverse right has been ad- 
mitted, it will be held proper within the discretion of the General Land 
Office to allow an entry upon another tract: Provided, That it shall be 
shown to the full satisfaction of the Commissioner that the default was 
practically beyond the power of the claimant to avoid. 

Following the accepted practice in pre-emption cases, the filing of a 
declaratory statement will not be held to bar the admission of filings and 
entries by others ; but any person making entry or claim during the period 
allowed by law for entry of the soldier will do so subject to his right ; and 
the so.dier's application when offered within such time will be allowed as a 
matter of right and operate to exclude the intervening claim. 

In case any register and receiver have cause to believe that any filing 
offered for record is not presented in good faith they will reject the same, 
-allowing an appeal from their action according to the regular practice. 

A'.,.', tes cannot he made for a soldier or sailor by an agent or attorney. 

The entry can be made only by the soldier or sailor, and he must com- 
men< e his settlement on the land within six months after his filing, and 
m st continue to reside on the land and cultivate it for such period as, 
added to his military or naval service, will make five years. But he must 
a< tually reside upon the land at least one year whatever may have been the 
period of his military or naval service. 

The widow, or, in case of her death or remarriage, the guardian of 
minor children, may complete an entry made by the soldier or sailor by 
tiling in this manner, but not completed before his death by formal entry, 
and patent will issue accordingly. 

In case of the death of any person who would be entitled to a homestead 
under the provisions of section 2304 his widow, or, in case of her death or 
remarriage, his minor orphan children, by a guardian duly appointed and 
officially accredited at the Department of the Interior, may initiate the fil- 
ing and entry in the same manner that the soldier or sailor might have done, 
subject to all the provisions ot the homestead laws in respect to settlement 
and improvement; and the whole term of enlistment in the military or 
naval service shall be deducted from the time otherwise required to perfect 
the title. (Sec. 2307, Re/. Stat.) 

The ruling herinbef— e stated relative to the widow or minor children of 
another deceased homestead party as to actual residence is equally appli- 
( able to the widow or minor children of a deceased sailor or soldier; if 
the land is cultivated in good faith the law will be regarded as substantially 
complied with, although the widow or children may not actually reside 
upon the land. 



34 

In case of widows, the prescribed evidence of military service of the hus- 
band must be furnished, with affidavit of widowhood, giving date of the 
husband's death. 

In case of minor orphan children, in addition to the prescribed evidence 
of military service of the father, proof of death or remarriage of the mother 
must be furnished. Evidence of death may be the testimony of two 
witnesses, or a physician's certificate duly attested. Evidence of marriage 
may be certified copy of marriage 'certificate, or of the record of same, or 
testimony of two witnesses to the marriage ceremony. 

Minor orphan children can act only by their duly appointed guardians, 
who must file certified copies of the powers of guardianship which 
must be transmitted to the General Land Office by the registers and 
receivers with their abstracts of soldiers' declaratory statements. 

soldier's additional homestead entry. 

An officer, soldier, seaman, or. marine who served for not less than 
ninety days in the Army or Navy of the United States during the rebellion, 
who had, prior to June 22, 1874, the date of approval of the Revised 
Statutes, made a homestead entry of less than 160 acres, may enter an 
additional quantity of land, adjacent to his former entry or elsewhere, 
sufficient to make, with the previous entry, 160 acres. (Rev. Stat., 2306. | 

This right (extended by sec. 2307, Rev. Stat., to the widow, if unmar- 
ried, otherwise to the minor orphan children by proper guardian) is a 
personal one, and is not transferable; it is not subject to assignment or 
lien, nor can it be exercised by another. 

The party desiring to make an additional entry and being entitled there- 
to must present himself at the land office of the district in which the land 
he wishes to enter is situated and make his application in the same manner 
as in case of an original entry (Form No. 4 — 008). 

In addition to the usual homestead affidavit setting forth that the entry 
is made for his own exclusive use and benefit and for actual settlement and 
cultivation, the claimant must make a special affidavit showing — 

First. His identity as the soldier he represents himself to be reciting his 
military service and stating his present residence and post-office address. 

Second. The facts in detail, setting forth his right to make the addi- 
tional entry and that he has fully complied with the provisions of the 
homestead laws in the residence upon and cultivation and improvement of 
his original entry and stating whether or not he has proved up his claim and 
received a patent for the land. Proper reference must be made to the orig- 
inal homestead entry, giving the name of the district office wherein it was 
made, the date and number of the entry, and the description of the land. 

Third. That he has not in any manner previously exercised his addi- 
tional right either by entry or application, or by sale, transfer, or power of 
attorney, but that the same remains in him unimpaired. 

The foregoing affidavits must be sworn to and subscribed in the presence 
of the register or receiver. This rule must be strictly adhered to in order 
to avoid false personation ; and applications and affidavits presented to the 
register and receiver with signature attached will not be received. 

The prescribed proof of compliance with the legal requirements of resi- 



35 

dence and cultivation for the statutory period under sections 2291 and 
2305, U. S. R. S., will be required before > final certificate shall issue. 

ADDITIONAL ENTRY UNDER SIXTH SECTION, ACT OF MARCH 2, 1889, 

PUBLIC NO. 124. 

The sixth section of that act admits of an additional entry of land, which 
need not be contiguous to the land embraced in the original, by parties 
who have complied with the conditions of the law with regard to the 
original entry, and have had the final papers issued therefor, and with the 
condition of residence and cultivation of the land embraced in the ad- 
ditional entry, to be made and proved as in ordinary homestead entries. 

Application and affidavit will be required in entries under this section, 
and the forms 4-018 and 4-086 may be used. 

In additional entries under this section the usual homestead fees and 
< ommissions will be required, to be paid, and receipts will be issued 
therefor. Notes will be made on the entry papers and opposite the entries 
on the monthly abstracts referring to the section and the act under which 
allowed. 

PARTIAL WAIVER OF HOMESTEAD RIGHTS. 

The election of a qualified party, when filing for a homestead, to take 
less than the law allows him, is construed as a waiver of his claim for a 
larger quantity ; and the same in case of an adjoining farm entry or sol- 
dier's additional entry. 

(But when an additional homestead claim was filed for 40 acres by a 
homesteader whose original entry was 120 acres, and 40 acres of this orig- 
inal entry had been canceled, but notice of the cancellation had not reached 
him when he filed for the additional 40 acres, this was not considered a 
waiver of the full amount, since he filed for all that he supposed was due 
him.) 

INDIAN HOMESTEADS. 

By the provisions of the Indian appropriation act of July 4, 1884, (23 
Stats., 96), any Indians who might then be located on public lands or 
should thereafter so locate may avail themselves of the privileges of the 
homestead laws as fully and to the same extent as citizens of the United 
States, but without payment of fees or commissions on account of such 
entries or proofs. 

Indian homesteads can not be commuted and are not subject to sale, as- 
signment, lease, or incumbrance. All patents issued for Indian home- 
steads must be of the legal effect and declare that the United States does 
and will hold the land thus entered for the period of twenty-five years in 
trust for the sole use and benefit of the Indian by whom such entry shall 
have been made, or, in case of his decease, of his widow and heirs accord- 
ing to the laws of the State or Territory where such land is located, and 
that at the expiration of said period the United States will convey the same 
by patent to said Indian or his widow and heirs as aforesaid, in fee, dis- 
charged of said trust and free of all charge or incumbrance whatsoever. 



Upon any Indian applying to enter land under said act he will be al- 
lowed to do so without payment of fee or commissions, but will be required 
to furnish a certificate from the agent of the tribe to which he belongs that 
he is an Indian of the age of twenty-one^years or the head of a family and 
not the subject of any foreign country. The entries will be numbered in 
the same series as other homesteads, but the papers, abstracts, and tract- 
books should be annotated " Indian homestead, act July 4, 1884." 

FIVE-YEAR NOTICE AND SEVEN-YEAR NOTICE. 

Registers and receivers will notify homestead claimants, on the expira- 
tion of the five-yzzx period and of the seven-ytzx period, according to 
Forms 4 — 343 and 4 — 344, respectively. 

SUFFERERS FROM GRASSHOPPERS. 

The first section of the act of July 1, 1879, "for the relief of settlers 
on the public lands in districts subject to grasshopper incursions," provides 
that homestead settlers on public lands where crops have been destroyed 
or seriously injured by grasshoppers may leave and be absent from said 
lands for a period not to exceed one year continuously, under such rules 
and regulations as the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall pre- 
scribe, being allowed afterward to resume and perfect their settlement as 
though no such absence had occurred. 

A settler desiring to take advantage of the provisions of this act should 
file with the register and receiver a written notice of intended absence, 
bearing his own signature, and embracing a statement that he had sus- 
tained loss or failure of his crops. This should be noted on the tract-books 
for the protection of the claimant and the information of parties who might 
otherwise make settlement and attempt to obtain title. 

Upon making final proof the settler having been absent under the first 
section should file his affidavit, with the affidavits of two or more witnesses, 
corroborative thereof, stating the particulars of the alleged destruction or 
serious injury of crops by grasshoppers. 

The particulars given should be such as to admit of a decision whether 
the absence was justified by law or not, and should specifically show at what 
*ime the party left the land and when he resumed his settlement. 

The affidavits required in cases arising under this section of the act must 
be made at the same time and place and before the same officer taking the 
9ther proofs. 

SUFFERERS FROM OTHER CAUSES. 

The third section of the act of March 2, 1889, entitled "An act to 
withdraw certain lands from private entry and for other purposes," pro- 
vides for permission to be granted in certain cases by the register and re- 
ceiver of the proper district land office for parties claiming public land as 
settlers under existing laws to leave and be absent from the land settled 
upon for a specified period, not to exceed one year at any one time. The 
applicant for such permission will be required to submit testimony to con- 
sist of his own affidavit, corroborated b,y the affidavits of disinterested 
witnesses, executed before the register or receiver or some officer in the land 
district using a seal and authorized to administer oaths setting forth in detail 



the facts on which he relies to support his application, and which must be 
sufficient to satisfy the register and receiver, who are enjoined to exercise , 
their best and most careful judgment in the matter, that he is unable by 
reason of a total or partial destruction or failure of crops, sickness or 
other unavoidable casualty to secure a support for himself or those depen- 
dent upon hi»i upon the land settled upon. In case a leave of absence is 
granted the register and receiver will enter such action on their records, 
indicating the period for which granted, and promptly report the fact to 
this office, transmitting the testimony on which their action is based. In 
case of refusal the applicant will be allowed the right of appeal on the 
usual conditions. 

TOWN SITES. 

The legislation first above mentioned with reference to these lands ad- 
mits of the entry of town sites under sections 2387 and 2388, U. S. R. S., 
but limits the quantity of land that may be embraced in any one entry to 
320 acres, whatever may be the number of inhabitants. 

The following are the principles governing entries under the sections 
mentioned, viz : 

Lands actually settled upon and occupied as a townsite, and therefore 
not subject to entry under the agricultural pre-emption laws, may be en- 
tered as a townsite in accordance with the provisions of sections 2387 and 
2388, United States Revised Statutes. 

1. If the town is incorporated, the entry may be made by the corporate 
authorities thereof through the mayor or other principal officer duly au- 
thorized so to do. 

2. If the town is not incorporated, the entry may be made by the 
judge of the county court for the county in which said town is situated. 

3. In either case the entry must be made in trust for the use and benefit 
of the occupants thereof, according to their respective interests. 

4. The execution of such trust as to the disposal of lots and the pro- 
ceeds of sales is to be conducted under regulations prescribed by State or 
Territorial laws. Acts of trustees not in accordance with such regulations 
are void. 

5. Private individuals or organizations are not authorized to enter town- 
sites under this act, nor can entries under this act be made of prospective 
townsites. The town must be actually established, and the entry must be 
for the benefit of the actual inhabitants and occupants thereof. 

6. The officer authorized to enter a townsite may make entry at once, 
or he may initiate an entry by filing a declaratory statement of the purpose 
of the inhabitants to make a town-site entry of the land described. 

7. The entry or declaratory statement shall include only such land as is 
actually occupied by the town, and the title to which is in the United 
States, and, if upon surveyed lands, its exterior limits must conform to 
the legal subdivisions of the public lands. 

Should there be no duly constituted officers in Oklahoma authorized to 
make entry in trust for the inhabitants, as contemplated in section 2387, 
any party interested may apply with proper proofs and thus bring the 
matter before the General Land Office for consideration, and for such action 
as may be deemed proper for the protection of the rights involved. 



38 

ENTERING UPON THE LANDS DURING THE RESERVATION. 

Any person applying to make entry of these lands will be required to 
make affidavit that he did not violate the law by entering upon and occupy- 
ing any part of the reservation before the time fixed in the President's 
proclamation for it to be open to settlement. 

Copies of the statutes, proclamation, notice, and forms referred to in 
the foregoing will be found appended, also the departmental circular on 
the subject of April i, 1889. 



APPENDIX. 



[Public No. 155.] 

An act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian 
Department, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes, for the year 
ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled. 

*********** 

Sec. 1 2. That the sum of one million nine hundred and twelve thousand 
nine hundred and forty-two dollars and two cents be, and the same hereby 
is, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appro- 
priated, to pay in full the Seminole nation of Indians for all the right, 
title, interest, and claim which said nation of Indians may have in and to 
certain lands ceded by article three of the treaty between the United 
States and said nation of Indians, which was concluded June fourteenth, 
eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and proclaimed August sixteenth, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-six, and which land was then estimated to contain two 
million one hundred and sixty-nine thousand and eighty acres, but which 
is now, after survey, ascertained to contain two million thirty-seven thou- 
sand four hundred and fourteen and sixty-two hundredths acres, said sum 
of money to be paid as follows : One million five hundred thousand dol- 
lars to remain in the Treasury of the United Stated to the credit of said 
nation of Indians and to bear interest at the rate of five per centum per 
annum from July first, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, said interest to 
be paid semi-annually to the treasurer of said nation, and the sum of four 
hundred and twelve thousand nine hundred and forty-two dollars and 
twenty cents, to be paid to such person or persons as shall be duly 
authorized by the laws of said nation to receive the same, at such times 
and in such sums as shall be directed and required by the legislative 
authority of said nation, to be immediately available ; this appropriation 
to become operative upon the execution by the duly appointed delegates of 
said nation, specially empowered so to do, of a release and conveyance to 
the United States of all the right, title, interest, and claim of said nation 
of Indians in and to said lands, in manner and form satisfactory to the 
President of the United States, and said release, and conveyance, when 
fully executed and delivered, shall operate to extinguish all claims of every 
kind and character of said Seminole nation of Indians in and to the tract 
of country to which said release and conveyance shall apply, but such 
release, conveyance, and extinguishment shall not inure to the benefit of or 



40 

cause to vest in any railroad company any right, title, or interest whatever 
in or to any of said lands, and all laws and parts of laws so far as they 
conflict with the foregoing, are hereby repealed, and all grants or pre- 
tended grants of said lands or any interest or right therein now existing in 
or on behalf of any railroad company, except rights of way and depot 
grounds, are hereby declared to be forever forfeited for breach of condi- 
tion. 

Sec. 13. That the lands acquired by the United States under said agree- 
ment shall be a part of the public domain, to be disposed of only as herein 
provided, and sections sixteen and thirty-six of each township, whether 
surveyed or unsurveyed, are hereby reserved for the use and benefit of the 
public schools, to be established within the limits of said lands under 
such conditions and regulations as may be hereafter enacted by Congress. 
That the lands acquired by conveyance from the Seminole Indians here- 
under, except the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections, shall be disposed of 
to actual settlers under the homestead laius only, except as herein otherwise 
provided (except that section two thousand three hundred and one of the 
Revised Statutes shall not apply): And provided further, That any person 
who having attempted to, but for any cause failed to secure a title in fee 
to a homestead under existing law, or who made entry under what is known 
as the commuted provision of the homestead law, shall he qualified to make 
a homestead entry upon said lands : And provided further, That the rights 
of honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors in the late civil war as 
defined and described in sections twenty-three hundred and four and twenty- 
three hundred and five of the Revised Statutes shall not be abridged : And 
provided further, That each entry shall be in square form as nearly as prac- 
ticable, and no person be permitted to enter more than one-quarter section 
thereof, but until said lands are opened for settlement by proclamation of 
the President, no person shall be permitted to enter upon and occupy the 
same and no person violating this provision shall ever be permitted to enter 
any of said lands or acquire any right thereto. 

The Secretary of the Interior may, after said proclamation and not be- 
fore, permit entry of said lands for town-sites, under sections twenty-three 
hundred and eighty-seven and twenty-three hundred and eighty-eight of 
the Revised Statutes, but no such entry shall embrace more than one-half 
section of land. 

That all the foregoing provisions with reference to lands to be acquired 
from the Seminole Indians, jncluding the provisions pertaining to forfeiture, 
shall apply to and regulate the disposal of the lands acquired from the Mus- 
cogee or Creek Indians by articles of cession and agreement made and 
concluded at the city of Washington on the nineteenth day of January, 
in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and eighty-nine. 

Sec. 14. The President is hereby authorized to appoint three commis- 
sioners, not more than two of whom shall be members of the same political 
party, to negotiate with the Cherokee Indians and with all other Indians own- 
ing or claiming lands lying west of the ninety-sixth degree of longitude in 
the Indian Territory for the cession to the United States of all their title, 
claim, or interest of every kind or character in and to said lands, and any 
and all agreements resulting from such negotiations shall be reported to the 
President and by him to Congress at its next session and to the council or 



41 

councils of the the nation or nations, tribe or tribes, agreeing to the same 
for ratification, and for this purpose the sum of twenty-five thousand dol- 
lars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated, to 
be immediately available : Provided, That said Commission is further 
authorized to submit to the Cherokee nation the proposition that said nation 
shall cede to the United States in the manner and with the effect afore- 
said, all the rights of said nation in said lands upon the same terms as to 
payment as is provided in the agreement made with the Creek Indians of 
date January nineteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and ratified by 
the present Congress ; and if said Cherokee nation shall accept, and by 
act of its legislative authority duly passed, ratify the same, the said lands 
shall thereupon beoome a part of the public domain for the purpose of 
such disposition as is herein provided, and the President is authorized as 
soon thereafter as he may deem advisable, by proclamation open said lands 
to settlement in the same manner and to the same effect, as in this act 
provided concerning the lands acquired from said Creek Indians, but until 
said lands are opened for settlement by proclamation of the President, no 
person shall be permitted to enter upon and occupy the same, and no 
person violating this provision shall be permitted to enter any of said lands 
or acquire any right thereto. 

Sec. 15. That the President may whenever he deems it necessary create 
not to exceed two land districts embracing the lands which he may open 
to settlement by proclamation as hereinbefore provided, and he is empowered 
to locate land offices for the same appointing thereto in conformity to ex- 
isting laws registers and receivers and for the purpose of carrying out this 
provision five thousand dollars or so much thereof as may be necessary is 
hereby appropriated. 

Approved March 2, 1889. 



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA -A PROC- 
LAMATION. 



Whereas, pursuant to Section eight, of the act of Congress approved 
March third, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, entitled " An act making 
appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian De- 
partment, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes, 
for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and 
for other purposes," certain articles of cession and agreement were made 
and concluded at the City of Washington on the nineteenth day of Janu- 
ary, in the year of our Lord, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, by and 
between the United States of America and the Muscogee (or Creek) 
Nation of Indians, whereby the said Muscogee (or Creek) nation of 
Indians, for the consideration therein mentioned, ceded andgranted to 
the United States, without reservation or condition, full and com- 
plete title to the entire western half of the domain of the said Mus- 
cogee (or Creek) Nation, in the Indian Territory, lying west of the divis- 
ion line surveyed and established under the treaty with said nation, dated 
the fourteenth day of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and also granted 
andreleased to the United States all and every claim, estate, right or interest of 
any and every description in and to any and all land and territory whatever, 
except so much of the former domain of said Muscogee (or Creek) Nation as lies 
east of said line of division surveyed and established as aforesaid, and then used 
and occupied as the home of said Nation, and which articles of cession and 
agreement were duly accepted, ratified and confirmed by said Muscogee (or 
Creek) Nation of Indians by act of its council, approved on the thirty- 
first day of January, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and by the United 
States by act of Congress approved March first, eighteen hundred and 
eighty nine, and 

Whereas, by section twelve of the Act, entitled "An Act making ap- 
propriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Depart- 
ment, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes, for 
the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety; and for other 
purposes," approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, a 
sum of money was appropriated to pay in full the Seminole nation of 
Indians for all the right, title, interest and claim which said Nation of 
Indians might have in and to certain lands ceded by article three of the 
treaty between the Uuited States and said Nation of Indians, concluded 
June fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and proclaimed August 
sixteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, said appropriation to become 



43 

operative upon the execution by the duly appointed delegates of said 
Nation, specially empowered to do so, of a release and conveyance to the 
United States of all right, title, interest and claim of said Nation of 
Indians, in and to said lands, in manner, and form, satisfactory to the 
President of the United States, and 

Whereas, said release and conveyance, bearing date the sixteenth day of 
March, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, has been duly and fully ex- 
ecuted, approved and delivered and 

Whereas, Section thirteen of the act last aforesaid, relating to said 
lands provides as follows : 

"Sec. 13. That the lands acquired by the United States under said 
agreement shall be a part of the public domain, to be disposed of only as 
herein provided, and section sixteen and thirty six of each township, 
whether surveyed or unsurveyed are hereby reserved for the use and bene- 
fit of the public schools to be establ-'shed within the limits of said lands 
under such conditions and regulations as may be hereafter enacted by 
Congress. 

" That the lands acquired by conveyance from the Seminole Indians 
hereunder, except the sixteenth and thirty-six sections shall be disposed of 
to actual settlers under the homestead laws only, except as herein other- 
wise provided (except that section two thousand three hundred and one of 
the Revised Statutes shall not apply) : And provided further, That any 
person who having attempted to, but for any cause failed to secure a title 
in fee to a homestead under existing laws or who made entry under 
what is known as the commuted provision of the homestead laws shall be 
qualified to make a homestead entry upon said lands ; And provided fur- 
ther, That the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors 
in the late civil war as defined and described in sections twenty-three 
hundred and four and twenty-three hundred and five of the Revised Stat- 
utes shall not be abridged ; And provided further, That each entry shall 
be in square form as nearly as practicable, and no person be permited 
to enter more than one-quarter section thereof, but until said lands 
are opened for settlement by proclamation of the President, no person shall 
be permitted to enter upon and occupy the same, and no person violating 
this provision shall ever be permitted to enter any of said lands or acquire 
any right thereto. 

' ' The Secretary of the Interior may, after said proclamation and not 
before, permit entry of said lands for townsites, under sections twenty-three 
hundred and eighty seven and twenty-three hundred and eighty-eight, of 
the Revised Statutes, but no such entry shall embrace more than one-half 
section of land. 

" That all the foregoing provisions with reference to lands to be ac- 
quired from the Seminole Indians, including the provisions pertaining to 
forfeiture shall apply to and regulate the disposal of the lands acquired from 
the Muscogee (or Creek) Indians, or articles of cession and agreement made 
oncluded at the city of Washington, on the nineteenth day of January in 
the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and eighty-nine." 

Now, therefore, I Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States, 
by virtue of the power in me vested by said act of Congress, approved 
March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, aforesaid, do hereby de- 



44 

clare and make known, that so much of the lands, as aforesaid acquired 
from or conveyed by the Muscogee (or Creek) nation of Indians, and from 
or by the Seminole nation of Indians, respectively, as is contained within 
the following described boundaries, viz : 

Beginning at a point where the degree of longitude ninety-eight west 
from Greenwich, as surveyed in the years eighteen hundred and fifty-eight 
and eighteen hundred and seventy-one, intersects the Canadian river ; 
thence north along and with the said degree to a point where the same 
intersects the Cimarron river ; thence up said river along the right bank 
thereof to a point where the same is intersected by the south line of what 
is known as the Cherokee lands lying west of the Arkansas river, or as the 
" Cherokee Outlet," said line being the north line of the lands ceded by 
the Muscogee (or Creek) nation of Indians to the United States by the 
treaty of June fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six ; thence east 
along said line to a point where the same intersects the west line of the 
lands set apart as a reservation for the Pawnee Indians by act of Congress 
approved April tenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, being the range 
line between ranges four and five east of the Indian meridian ; thence 
south on said line to a point where the same intersects the middle of the 
main channel of the Cimarron river; thence up said river along the 
middle of the main channel thereof to a point where the same intersects 
the range line between range one east and range one west (being the 
Indian meridian), which line forms the western boundary of the reserva- 
tion set apart respectively for the Iowa and Kickapoo Indians by Executive 
orders, dated respectively August fifteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty- 
three ; thence south along said range line or meridian to a point where the 
same intersects the right bank of the north fork of the Canadian river ; 
thence up said river along the right bank thereof to a point where the same 
is intersected by the west line of the reservation occupied by the Citizen 
Band of Pottawatomies and the Absentee Shawnee Indians, set apart under 
the provisions of the treaty of February twenty-seven, eighteen hundred 
and sixty-seven, between the United States and the Pottawatomie tribe of 
Indians, and referred to in the act of Congress approved May twenty-three, 
eighteen hundred and seventy- two ; thence south along the said west line 
of the aforesaid reservation to a point where the same intersects the middle 
of the main channel of the Canadian river ; thence up the said river 
along the middle of the main channel thereof to a point opposite to the 
place of beginning, and thence north to the place of beginning (saving and 
excepting one acre of land in square form in the northwest corner of sec- 
tion nine, in township sixteen north, range two west of the Indian meridian 
in Indian Territory, and also one acre of land in the southeast corner of 
the northwest quarter of section fifteen, township sixteen north, range 
seven west of the Indian meridian in the Indian Territory, which last de- 
scribed two acres are hereby reserved for Government use and control,) 
will at and after the hour of twelve o'clock, noon, of the twenty-second 
day of April next, and not before, be open for settlement, under the terms 
of and subject to all the conditions, limitations, and restrictions contained 
in said act of Congress, approved March second, eighteen hundred and 
eighty-nine and the laws of the United States applicable thereto. 

And it is hereby expressly declared and made known that no other parts 



45 

or portions of the lands embraced within the Indian Territory than those 
herein specifically described and declared to be open to settlement at the 
time above named and fixed are to be considered as open to settlement 
under this proclamation or the act of March second, eighteen hundred and 
eighty-nine, aforesaid ; and 

Warning is hereby again expressly given that no person entering upon 
and occupying said lands before said hour of twelve o'clock, noon, of the 
t venty-second day of April, A. D. eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, here- 
inbefore fixed, will ever be permitted to enter any of said lands or acquire any 
rights thereto, and that the officers of the United States will be required 
to strictly enforce the provisions of the act of Congress to the above effect. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of 
the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington this twenty-third day of March, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine, and of the 
Independence of the United States the one hundred and thirteenth. 

[seal.] Benj. Harrison. 

By the President. 

James G. Blaine, 

Secretary of State. 



[No. 924.] 

NOTICE OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OE TWO LAND 
DISTRICTS IN THE INDIAN TERRITORY. 



Notice is hereby given that the President of the United States, in pur- 
suance of the authority conferred upon him by the fifteenth section of the 
act of Congress approved March 3, 1889, has directed the establishment 
of two land districts in that portion of the territory ceded by the Creek 
and Seminole Nations of Indians to the United States and embraced in a 
proclamation by the President dated the twenty-third day of March, 1889, 
opening said lands to settlement, the boundaries of said districts will be as 
follows : 

FOR THE WESTERN LAND DISTRICT. 

Beginning at a point where the degree of longitude ninety-eight west 
from Greenwich, as surveyed [in the years 1853 and 1S71, intersects with 
the Canadian river ; thence north along and with the said degree to a 
point where the same intersects the Cimarron river ; thence up said rb er 
along the right bank thereof to a point where the same is intersected by 
the south line of what is known as the Cherokee lands, lying west of trie 
Arkansas River, or as the "Cherokee outlet," said line being the north 
line of the lands ceded by the Creek nation of Indians to the United States 
by treaty of June 14, 1866 ; thence east along said line to the line between 
ranges three and four west, Indian meridian : thence south along said line 
to the middle of the main channel of the Canadian river, and thence up 
the said river, along the middle of the main channel thereof, to a point 
opposite to the place of beginning, and thence north to the place of begin- 
ning ; and the office for the disposal of the lands embraced in the forego- 
ing limits shall be located at Kingfisher stage station. 

FOR THE EASTERN LAND DISTRICT. 

Beginning at a point on the Canadian river in the middle of the main 
channel of said river where the lines between ranges three and four west, 
Indian Meridian intersects said river, thence north along said range line 
to the south boundary line of what is known as the Cherokee lands lying 
west of the Arkansas river ; thence east along said line to a point where 
the same intersects the west line of the lands set apart as a reservation for 
the Pawnee Indians by Act of Congress approved April 10, 1876, being 
the range line between ranges four and five east of the Indian Meridian ; 
thence south on said line to a point where the same intersects the middle 



47 

of the main channel of the Cimarron river ; thence up said river, along 
the main channel thereof to a point where the same intersects the range 
line between range one east and range one west of the Indian Meridian, 
which line forms the western boundary of the reservation set apart res- 
pectively for the Iowa and Kickapoo Indians, by Executive orders of 
August 15, 1SS3; thence south along said range line or meridian to a 
point where the same intersects the right bank of the north fork of the 
Canadian river ; thence up said river along the right bank thereof to a 
point where the same is intersected by the west line of the Reservation 
occupied by the citizen band of Pottawatomies and the absentee Shawnee 
Indians, referred to in Act of May 23, 1872 ; thence south along the said 
west line of the aforsaid reservation to a point where the same intersects 
the Canadian river ; thence up along the main middle channel thereof to 
the place of beginning, and the office for the disposal of the lands em- 
braced in the foregoing limits shall be located at the town of Guthrie. 

Further notice of the precise time when the offices of these districts 
will be opened for the transaction of public business will be given by the 
Registers and Receivers thereof by publication. 

Given under my hand at the City of Washington this twenty-seventh 
day of March, A. D. 1889. 

By the President, 

S. M. STOCKSLAGER, 
Commissioner of the General Land Office. 



CIRCULAR INSTRUCTIONS. 



Department of the Interior, General Land Office, 

Washingtton, April i, 1889. 
Registers and Receivers of the United States Land Offices, Indian Ty. 

Gentlemen: The 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th sections of an act of Con- 
gress, approved March 2, 1889, entitled "An act making appropriations 
for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and for 
fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the year ending 
June 30, 1890, and for other purposes," a copy of which section is hereto 
attached, embrace provisions for the disposal of certain lands therein des- 
ignated. Pursuant to these provisions the President has issued his procla- 
mation of the 23d instant, copy also attached, opening a described portion 
of the lands so designated for settlement and entry from and after a date 
therein given, and your offices have been established for the disposal thereof 
accordingly. 

These lands have been surveyed, and you will be supplied with the town- 
ship plats, tract books, blank forms, official circulars, and other requisites 
for the proper transaction of your business in connection therewith. 

You will observe that the statute reserves sections 16 and 36 in every 
township for school purposes, and the proclamation reserves for Govern- 
ment use and control the following, viz. : One acre of land, in square 
form, in. the northwest corner of section nine, in township sixteen north, 
range two west of the Indian meridian in Indian Territory, and also one 
acre of land in the southeast corner of the northwest quarter of section fif- 
teen, township sixteen north, range seven west of the Indian meridian in 
the Indian Territory. The remainder of the lands are made subject to entry 
by actual settlers under the general homestead laws, with certain modifica- 
tions. 

Your attention is directed to the general circular issued by this office 
January 1, 1889, pages 13 to 30 inclusive,. 42 to 57 inclusive, and 86 to 90 
inclusive, as containing the homestead laws and official regulations there- 
under. These laws and regulations will control your action, but modified 
by the special provisions of the said act of March 2, 1889, in the following 
particulars, viz. : 

1. The rule stated on seventeenth page of said circular under the title, 
tl Only one homestead privilege to the same person permitted," is so modi- 
fied as to admit of a homestead entry being made by any one, who prior to 
the passage of said act, had made a homestead entry, but failed, from any 
cause, to secure a title in fee to the land embraced therein, or who, having 
secured such title, did so by what is known as the commutation of his home- 
stead entry. See section 2301, U. S. R. S., page 88, and statement on 



49 

page 19 of said circular under the title "Commutation of Homestead En- 
tries." A person desiring to make another entry under this provision will 
be required to make affidavit to the facts necessary to entitle him to do so 
under the laws and rules, designating in the affidavit his former entry by 
description of the land, number and date of entry, with the name of the 
land office where made, or other sufficient data to admit of readily identi- 
fying it on the official records, which affidavit you will transmit with the 
other entry papers to this office. 

With regard to persons making homestead entries and failing to acquire 
title thereunder, or commuting them, after the passage of said act of March 
2, 1889, the rule stated on page 17 of said circular, as to second home- 
■steads, is operative, and will be enforced, in relation to these lands as well 
as others. 

2. The statute provides for the disposal of these lands " to actual settlers 
under the homestead laws only " and while providing that " the rights of 
honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors in the late civil war as de- 
lined and described in sections 2304 and 2305 of the Revised Statutes, 
<(See pages 24, 25 and 26 of said circular) shall not be abridged," makes 
no mention of sections 2306 and 2307 thereof, under which such soldiers 
and sailors, their widows and orphan children are permitted, with regard 
to the public lands generally, to make additional entries, in certain cases, 
free from the requirement of actual settlement on the entered tract, see 
pages 26 and 27 of said circular. It is therefore held that soldiers' or 
sailors' additional entries cannot be made on these lands under said sec- 
tions 2306 and 2307, unless the party claiming will, in addition to the 
proof required on pages 26 and 27 of said circular, make affidavit that the 
entry is made for actual settlement and cultivation, according to section 
2291, as modified by sections 2304 and 2305 of the Revised Statutes, and 
the prescribed proof of compliance therewith will be required to be pro- 
duced before the issue of final certificate. 

3. It is provided in the statute that section 2301 of the Revised Statutes 
shall not apply to these lands, see pages 19 and 88 of said circular. There- 
fore, entries made thereon will not be subject to commutation under that 
section. 

Any person applying to enter or file for a homestead will be required, 
first, to make affidavit, in addition to other requirements, that he did not 
vi )late the law by entering upon and occupying any portion of the lands 
described in the President's proclamation, dated March 23, 1889, prior to 
12 o'clock noon, April 22, 1889, the affidavit to accompany your returns 
for the entry allowed. 

The statute provides that townsite entries may be allowed under sec- 
tions 2387 and 2388, U. S. R. S , but limits the area in any such entry to 
-one-halt section, or 320 acres, as the maximum, whatever the number of 
inhabitants. For instructions as to entries under said sections of the Re- 
vised Statutes you are referred to the circular issued by this office July 9, 
1886, subdivision III., pages 4 and 5. Should applications for townsite 
entries or filings be presented by parties in interest, in the absence of 
officers properly qualified to make entry in trust for the inhabitants, under 
the provisions of said section 2387, you will note the applications on your 



50 

records, forward a report thereof to this office with any paper.- presented y 
and await instructions before allowing any entry of the land. 

No rights under the townsite laws can be acquired to any of the lands 
described in the said proclamation prior to the time therein prescribed for 
the same to become open to entry and occupancy as aforesaid, viz., 12 
o'clock noon of the 2 2d of April, 1889. 

It appears that by the President's order of the 26th December, 1885, a 
reservation was established for military purposes of the following sub-divi- 
sions of land within the boundaries described in said proclamation of the 
23d March, 1889, and which reservation still continues, viz.: southwest 
quarter of section fifteen, south half of section sixteen, south half of section 
seventeen, southeast quarter of section eighteen, east half of section nine- 
teen, all of section twenty, all of section twenty-one, west half of section 
twenty-two, west half of section twenty-seven, all of section twenty-eight, 
all of section twenty-nine, the east half of section thirty, northeast half of 
section thirty-one, north half of section thirty-two, north half of section 
thirty-three, and northwest quarter of section thirty-four, all in township 
twelve north, range 4, west of the Indian meridian. 

These tracts, in view of their reservation under the President's order of 
December 26, 1885, are not subject to settlement or entry under the act of 
March 2. 1889, aforesaid, and the laws of the United States applicable 
thereto. See seccions 2258 and 2289, U. S. R. S., and you will permit 
no entry or filing for any portion thereof. 

It is thought that the foregoing will be found sufficient for your guidance 
in any cases that may arise, but should unforseen difficulties present them- 
selves you will submit the same for special instructions. 
Respectfully. 

S. M. Stockslager, 

Commissioner. 
Approved, John W. Noble, Secretary 



EE VISED STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



HOMESTEADS. 

Sec. 2289. Every person who is the head of a family, or who has ar- 
rived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, 
or who has filed his declaration of intention to became such, as required 
by the naturalization laws, shall be entitled to enter one quarter-section or 
a less quantity of unappropriated public lands, upon which such person 
may have filed a pre-emption claim, or which may, at the time the appli- 
cation is made, be subject to pre-emption at one dollar and twenty-five 
cents per acre ; or eighty acres or less of such unappropriated lands at two 
dollars and fifty cents per acre, to be located in a body, in conformity to 
the legal subdivisions of the public lands, and after the same having been 
surveyed. And every person owning and residing on land may, under the 
provisions of this section, enter other lands lying contiguous to his land, 
which shall not, with the land so already owned and occupied, exceed in 
the aggregate one hundred and sixty acres. 

Sec. 2290. The person applying for the benefit of the preceding section 
shall, upon application to the register of the land-office in which he is 
about to make such entry, make affidavit before the register or receiver 
that he is the head of a family, or is twenty-one years or more of age, or 
has performed service in the Army or Navy of the United States, and that 
such application is made for his exclusive use and benefit, and that his entry 
is made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not either 
directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of'any other person ; and upon 
filing such affidavit with the register or receiver, on payment of five dollars 
when the entry is of not more than eighty acres, and on payment of ten 
dollars when the entry is for more than eighty acres, he shall thereupon be 
permitted to enter the amount of land specified. 

Sec. 2291. No certificate, however, shallbegiven, orpatent issued therefor, 
until the expiration of five years from the date of such entry, and if at 
the expiration of such time, or at any time within two years thereafter, the 
person making such entry ; or if he be dead, his widow , or in case of her 
death, his heirs or devisee , or in case of a widow making such entry, her 
heirs or devisee, in case of her death, proves by two credible witnesses 
that he, she, or they have resided upon or cultivated the same for the term 
of five years immediately succeeding the time of filing the affidavit, and 
makes affidavit that no part of such land has been alienated, except as 
provided in section twenty-two hundred and eighty-eight, and that he, she, 
or they, will bear true allegiance to the Government of the United States; 
then, in such case, he, she, or they, if at that time citizens of the United 
States, shall be entitled to a patent, as in other cases provided by law. 



O'J, 

Sec. 2292. In case of the death of both father and mother, leaving an 
infant child or children under twenty-one years of age, the right and fee 
shall inure to the benefit of such infant child or children: and the executor, 
administrator, or guardian may, at any time within two years after the 
death of the surviving parent, and in accordance with the laws of the State 
in which such children, for the time being, have their domicile, sell die 
land for the benefit of such infants, but for no other purpose ; and the 
purchaser shall acquire the absolute title by the purchase, and be entitled 
to a patent from the United States on the payment of the office fees and 
sum of money above specified. 

Sec. 2293. In case of any person desirous of availing himself of the 
benefits of this chapter, but who, by reason of actual service in the military 
or naval service of the United States, is unable to do the personal prelimi- 
nary acts at the district land office which the preceding sections require ; 
and whose family, or some member thereof, is residing on the land which 
he desires to enter, and upon which a bona fide improvement and settle- 
ment have been made, such person may make the affidavit required by 
hw before the officer commanding in the branch of the service in 
which the party is engaged, which affidavit shall be as binding in law, and 
with like penalties, as if taken before the register or receiver ; and upon 
such affidavit being filed with the register by the wife or other represen- 
tative of the party, the same shall become effective from the date of 
such filing, provided the application and affidavit are accompanied by the 
fee and commissions as required by law. 

Sec. 2294. In any case in which the applicant for the benefit of the 
homestead, and whose family, or some member thereof, is residing on the 
land which he desires to enter, and upon which a bona fide improvement and 
settlement have been made, is prevented, by reason of distance, bodily in- 
firmity, or other good cause, from personal attendance at the district land 
office, it may be lawful for him to make the affidavit required by law before 
the clerk of the court for the county in which the applicant is an actual 
resident, and to transmit the same, with the fee and commissions, to the 
register and receiver. 

Sec. 2295. The register of the land office shall note all applications 
under the provisions of this chapter on the tract-books and plats of his 
office, and keep a register of all such entries, and make return thereof to 
t'riQ General Land Office, together with the proof upon which they have 
been founded. 

Sec. 2296. No lands acquired under the provisions of this chapter shall 
in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt contracted prior 
to the issuing of the patent therefor. 

Sec. 2297. If, at any time after the filing of the affidavit, as required in 
section twenty-two hundred and ninety, and before the expiration of the 
five years mentioned in section twenty-two hundred and ninety-one, it is 
proved, after due notice to the settler, to the satisfaction of the register of 
the land office, that the person having filed such affidavit has actually 
changed his residence, or abandomed the land for more than six months 
at any time, then and in that event the land so entered shall revert to the 
Government : [Provided, That where there may be climatic reasons the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office may, in his discretion, allow 



53 

the settler twelve months from the date of filing in which to commence 
his residence on said land under such rules and regulations as he may 
prescribe.]* 

Sec. 2298. No person shall be permitted to acquire title to more than 
one quarter-section under the provisions of this chapter. 

******* 

Sec. 2300. No person who has served, or may hereafter serve, for a 
period not less than fourteen days in the Army or Navy of the United 
States, either regular or volunteer, under the laws thereof, during the exist- 
ence of an actual war, domestic or foreign, shall be deprived of the bene- 
fits of this chapter on account of not having attained the age of twenty-one 

years. 

******* 

Sec. 2302. No distinction shall be made in the construction or execu- 
tion of this chapter on account of race or color ; nor shall any mineral 
lands be liable to entry and settlement under its provisions. 

******* 

Sec. 2304. Every private soldier and officer who has served in the Armv 
of the United States during the recent rebellion, for ninety days, and who 
was honorably discharged, and has remained loyal to the Government, in- 
cluding the troops mustered into the service of the United States by virtue 
of the third section of an act approved February thirteenth, eighteen hund- 
red and sixty-two, and every seaman, marine, and officer who has served 
in the Navy of the United States, or in the Marine Corps, during the rebel- 
lion, for ninety days, and who was honorably discharged, and has remained 
loyal to the Government, shall, on compliance with the provisions of this 
chapter, as hereinafter modified, be entitled to enter upon and receive pat- 
ents for a quantity of public lands not exceeding one hundred and sixty 
acres, or one-quarter section, to be taken in compact form, according to 
legal subdivisions, including the alternate reserve sections of public land 
along the line of any railroad or other public work, not otherwise reserved 
or appropriated, and other lands subject to entry under the homestead laws 
of the United States ; but such homestead settler shall be allowed six months 
after locating his homestead, and filing his declaratory statement, within 
which to make his entry and commence his settlement and improvement. 

Sec. 2305. The time which the homestead settler has served in the Army, 
Navy, or Marine Corps shall be deducted from the time heretofore required 
to perfect title, or if discharged on account of wounds received or dis- 
ability incurred in the line of duty, then the term of enlistment shall be 
deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect title, without refer- 
ence to the length of time he may have served; but no patent shall issue 
to any homestead setjtler who has not resided upon, improved, and culti- 
vated his homestead for a period of at least one year after he shall have 
commenced his improvements. 

Sec. 2306. Every person entitled, under the provisions of section twenty- 
three hundred and four, to enter a homestead who may have heretofore en- 
tered, under the homestead laws, a quantity of land less than one hundred and 

*The portion within brackets is an amendment, added by act of March 3, 1881 (21 
Stats., 511; Appendix No. 11). 



54 

sixty acres, shall be permitted to enter so much land as, when added to the 
quantity previously entered, shall not exceed one hundred and sixty acres. 

Sec. 2307. In case of the death of any person who would be entitled to 
a homestead under the provisions of section two thousand three hundred 
and four, his widow, if unmarried, or, in case of her death or marriage, 
then his minor orphan children, by a guardian duly appointed and officially 
accredited at the Department of the Interior, shall be entitled to all the 
benefits enumerated in this chapter, subject to all the provisions as to set- 
tlement and improvement therein contained ; but if such person died dur- 
ing his term of enlistment, the whole term of his enlistment shall be de- 
ducted from the time heretofore required to perfect title. 

Sec. 2308. Where a party at the date of his entry of a tract of land under 
the homestead laws, or subsequently thereto, was actually enlisted and em- 
ployed in the Army or Navy of the United States, his services therein shall, 
in the administration of such homestead laws, be construed to be equivalent, 
to all intents and purposes, to a residence for the same length of time upon 
the tract so entered ; and if his entry has been canceled by reason of his 
absence from such tract while in the military or naval service of the United 
States, and such tract has not been disposed of, his entry shall be restored; 
but if such tract has been disposed of, the party may enter another tract 
subject to entry under the homestead laws, and his right to a patent there- 
for may be determined by the proofs touching his residence and cultivation 
of the first tract and his absence therefrom in such service. 

Sec. 2309. Every soldier, sailor, marine, officer, or other person coming 
within the provisions of section two thousand three hundred and four, may, 
as well by an agent as in person, enter upon such homestead by filing a 
declaratory statement, as in pre-emption cases; but such claimant in per- 
son shall within the time prescribed make his actual entry, commence set- 
tlements and improvements on the same, and thereafter fulfill all the require- 
ments of law. 



TOWN SITES. 

******* 
Sec. 2387. Whenever any portion of the public lands have been or may 
be settled upon and occupied as a town-site, not subject to entry under the 
agricultural pre-emption laws, it is lawful, in case such town be incorpor- 
ated, for the corporate authorities thereof, and, if not incorporated, for the 
judge of the county court for the county in which such town is situated, to 
enter at the proper land office, and at the minimum price, the land so set- 
tled and occupied in trust for the several use and benefit of the occupants 
thereof, according to their respective interests ; the execution of which 
trust, as to the disposal of lots in such town, and the proceeds of the sales 
thereof, to be conducted under such regulations as may be prescribed by 
the legislative authority of the state or territory in which the same may be 
situated. 

Sec. 2388. The entry of the land provided for in the preceding section 
shall be made, or a declaratory statement of the purpose of the inhabitants 
to enter it as a townsite shall be filed with the register of the proper land 



-office, prior to the commencement of the public sale of the body of land in 
which it is included, and the entry or declaratory statement shall include 
only such land as is actually occupied by the town and the title to which is 
in the United States ; but in any territory in which a land office may not 
have been established, such declaratory statements may be filed with the 
surveyor-general of the surveying district in which the lands are situated, 
who shall transmit the same to the General Land Office. 



FINAL PROOF NOTICE. 

AN ACT to provide additional regulations for homestead and pre-emption entries of pub- 
lie lands. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That before final proof shall be 
submitted by any person claiming to enter agricultural lands under the 
laws providing for pre-emption or homestead entries, such person shall file 
with the register of the proper land office a notice of his or her intention 
to make such proof, stating therein the description of lands to be entered, 
and the names of the witnesses by whom the necessary facts will be estab- 
lished. Upon the filing of such notice the register shall publish a notice 
that such application has been made once a week for the period of thirty 
days, in a newspaper to be by him designated as published nearest such 
land, and he shall also post such notice in some conspicuous place in his 
office for the same period. Such notice shall contain the names of the wit- 
nesses as stated in the application. At the expiration of said period of 
thirty days the claimant shall be entitled to make proof in the manner 
heretofore provided by law. The Secretary of the Interior shall make all 
necessary rules for giving effect to the foregoing provisions. 

Approved March 3, 1879. ( 2 ° Stat., 472.) 



INJUPY OR DESTRUCTION OF CROPS BY GRASSHOPPERS. 

AN ACT for the relief of settlers on the public lands in districts subject to grasshopper 

incursions. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be lawful for home- 
stead and pre-emption settler^ on the public lands, and in all cases where 
preemptions are authorized by law, where crops have been or may be de- 
stroyed or seriously injured by grasshoppers, to leave and be absent from 
said lands under such rules and regulations, as to proof of the same, as the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office shall prescribe; but in no case 
shall such absence extend beyond one year continuously ; and during such 
absence no adverse rights shall attach to said lands, such settlers being 
allowed to resume and perfect their settlement as though no such absence 
had occurred. 

Sec. 2. That the time for making final proof and payment by pre-empt- 
ors whose crops shall have been destroyed or injured as aforesaid may, in 



56 

the discretion of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, be extended 
for one year aiter the expiration of the term of absence provided for in the 
first section of this act ; and all the rights and privileges extended by this 
act to homestead and pre-emption settlers shall apply to and include the 
settlers under an act entitled "An act to encourage the growth of timber 
on western prairies," approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy- 
three, and the acts amendatory thereof. 
Approved July i, 1879. (21 Stat., 48.) 



CLIMATIC HINDRANCES. 
AN ACT to amend section 2297 °f tne Revised Statutes, relating to homestead settlers" 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Unitecf 
States of America in Congress assembled, That section numbered twenty- 
two hundred and ninety-seven, of title numbered thirty-two, be amended; 
by adding thereto the following proviso, namely : Provided, That where 
there maybe climatic reasons the Commissioner of the General Land Office 
may, in his discretion, allow the settlers twelve months from the date of 
filing in which to commence his residence on said land under such rules. 
and regulations as he may prescribe. 

Approved March 3, 188 1. (21 Stat., 511.) 



RELINQUISHMENTS — CONTESTANT'S PREFERENCE — HOMESTEAD SETTLE- 
MENTS. 

AN ACT for the relief of settlers on public lands. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That when a pre-emption, 
homestead, or timber-culture claimant -shall file a written relinquishment of 
his claim in the local land office the land covered by such claim shall be 
held as open to settlement and entry without further action on the part of 
the Commissioner of the General Land office. 

Sec. 2. In all cases where any person has contested, paid the land office- 
fees, and procured the cancellation of any pre-emption, homestead, or 
timber-culture entry, he shall be notified by the register of the land office- 
of the district in which such land is situated of such cancellation, and 
shall be allowed thirty days from date of such notice to enter said lands : 
Provided, That said register shall be entitled to a fee of one dollar for the- 
giving of such notice, to be paid by the contestant, and not to be reported 

Sec. 3. That any settler who has settled, or who shall hereafter settle, 
on any of the public lands of the United States, whether surveyed or un- 
surveyed, with the intention of claiming the same under the homestead 
laws, shall be allowed the same time to file his homestead application and 
perfect his original entry in the United States Land Office as is now 
allowed to settlers under the pre-emption laws, to put their claims on 



57 

record, and his right shall relate back to the date of settlement, the same 
as if he settled under the pre-emption laws. 
Approved May 14, 1880. (21 Stat., 140.) 



SETTLERS WHO BECOME INSANE. 

AN ACT to provide for issuing patents for pnblic lands claimed under the preemption 
and homestead laws, in cases where the settlers have become insane. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases in which parties- 
who regularly initiated claims to public lands as settlers thereon according 
to the provisions of the pre-emption or homestead laws, have become in- 
sane or shall hereafter become insane before the expiration of the time dur- 
ing which their residence, cultivation, or improvement of the land claimed 
by them is required by law to be continued in order to entitle them to make 
the proper proof and perfect their claims, it shall be lawful for the required 
proof and payment to be made for their benefit by any person who may be 
legally authorized to act for them during their disability, and thereupon 
their claims shall be confirmed and patented, provided it shall be shown by 
proof satisfactory to the Commissioner of the General Land Office that the 
parties complied in good faith with the legal requirements up to the time 
of their becoming insane, and the requirements in homestead entries of an 
affidavit of allegiance by the applicant in certain cases as a prerequisite to 
the issuing of the patents shall be dispensed with so far as regards such in- 
sane parties. 

Approved June 8, 1880. (21 Stat., 166.) 



INDIAN HOMESTEADS. 

AN ACT making appropriations for the current and contingent expense* of the Indian 
Department, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes, for the year 
ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, and for other purposes. 

******* 
That such Indians as may now be located on public lands, or as may 
under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, or otherwise, hereafter 
so locate may avail themselves of the provisions of the homestead laws as 
fully and to the same extent as may now be done by citizens of the United 
States; and to aid such Indians in making selections of homesteads and the 
necessary proofs at the proper land offices, one thousand dollars, or so much 
thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated ; but no fee or com- 
missions shall be charged on account of said entries or proofs. All patents 
therefor shall be of the legal effect, and declare that the United States does 
and will hold the landthus entered for the period of twenty-five years, in 
trust for the sole use and benefit of the Indian by whom such entry shall 
have been made, or, in case of his decease, of his widow and heirs accord- 
ing to the laws of the State or Territory where such land is located, and at 



58 

the expiration of said period the United States will convey the same by- 
patent to said Indian, or his widow and heirs as aforesaid, in fee, dis- 
charged of said trust and free of all charge or incumbrance whatsoever. 
Approved July 4, 1884. (23 Stat., 96.) 



[Public No. 124.] 

AN ACT to withdraw certain lands from private entry, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled. 

Sec. 6. That every person entitled, under the provisions of the home- 
stead laws, to enter a homestead, who has heretofore complied with or shall 
hereafter comply with the conditions of said laws, and who shall have 
made his final proof thereunder for a quantity of land less than one hun- 
dred and sixty acres and received the receiver's final receipt therefor, shall 
be entitled under said laws to enter as a personal right, and not assignable, 
by legal subdivisions of the public lands of the United States subject to home- 
stead entry, so much additional land as added to the quantity previously 
so entered by him shall not exceed one hundred and sixty acres : Provided, 
That in no case shall patent issue for the land covered by such additional 
entry until the person making such additional entry shall have actually 
and in conformity with the homestead laws resided upon and cultivated 
the lands so additionally entered, and otherwise fully complied with such 
laws. 



FORMS. 



preliminary affidavit. 

Land Office, , 

(Date) , 1 8 — . 

T, , of , applying to enter (or file for) a 

homestead, do solemnly swear that I did not enter upon and occupy any 
portion of the lands described in the President's proclamation dated March 
23, 1889, prior to 12 o'clock, noon, of April 22, 1889. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of ■ 



Note. — This affidavit must be made before the register or receiver of the proper dis- 
trict land office, or before some officer authorized to administer oaths and using a seal in 
the Indian Territory. 



[4-007.] 
HOMESTEAD. 

Application No. . 



Land Office at 



I, , of , do hereby to enter, under section 

2289, Revised Statutes of the United States, the of section , 

in township of range , containing acres. 

My 4 post-address is .* 



Land Office at 



I, , register of the land office, do hereby certify that the 

above application is for surveyea lands of the class which the applicant is 
legally entitled to enter under section 2289, Revised Statutes of the United 
States, and that there is no prior valid adverse right to the same. 



Register. 



* If residence in city, street and number must be given. 



60 
[4-063.] 

HOMESTEAD. 

(Affidavit.) 

Land Office at 



I, , of , having filed my application, No. , for 

an entry under section No. 2289, Revised Statutes of the United States, do 

solemnly swear that that said application No. , is made 

for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation ; that said entry is made 
for my own exclusive benefit, and not directly or indirectly for the benefit 
or use of any other person or persons whomsoever ; and that I have not 
heretofore had the benefit of the homestead laws. 



Sworn to and subscribed this day of , before. 



of the Land Office. 



Note. — If this affidavit be acknowledged before the clerk of the court, 
as provided for by section 2294, U. S. Revised Statutes, the homestead 
party must expressly state herein that he or some member of his family is 
residing upon the land applied for, and that bona fide improvement and 
settlement have been made. He must also state why he is unable to appear 
at the land office. 

[Marginal notes in red ink.] 

See note, which clerks of the court and registers and receivers will read and explain 
thoroughly to persons making application for lands where the affidavit is made before 
either of them. (See directions to land officers on duplicate receipt,) 

Timber land embraced in a homestead, or other entry not consummated, may be cleared 
in order to cultivate the land and improve the premises but for no other purpose. 

If, after clearing the land for cultivation, there remains more timber than is required for 
improvement, there is no objection to the settler disposing of the same. But the question 
whether the land is being cleared of its timber for legitimate purposes is a question of 
fact, which is liable to be raised at any time. If the timber is cut and removed for any 
other purpose, it will subject the entry to cancellation, and the person who cut it will be 
liable to civil suit for recovery of the value of said timber and also to criminal prosecu- 
tion under section 2461 of the Revised Statutes. 



AFFIDAVIT 



for a party having made a homestead entry prior to March 2, 1889, and desiring to enter 
under 13th section of act of that date. — Public No. 155. 

Land Office, at , 



(Date) , 18—. 

I, , of , having heretofore made a home- 



61 

stead entry and desiring to make another such entry under the thirteenth 
section of the act of March 2, 1889 — Public No. 155, do solemnly swear 

that I made entry of the of section in township of range 

,onthe davof , 18 — , at the land office at , in the State 

(or Territory) of , entry No. , that I have failed to secure title 

thereunder,* and that I have not made a homestead entry since the date 
of said act of March 2, 1889. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 188 — . 



HOMESTEAD AFFIDAVIT FOR SOLDIERS' ADDITIONAL. 

Act March 2, 1889. To be filed in addition to proof required on pages 26 and 27 of 
circular of January 1, 1889. 

Land Office at , 

(Date) , iS— . 

I, , of , having filed my application, No. 



for an entry under section 2306 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

States, do solemnly swear that said application, No. , is made for my 

exclusive benefit ; and that said entry is intended for the purpose of actual 
settlement and cultivation, and not, directly or indirectly, for the use or 
benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever, and that I have not 
heretofore had the benefit of the homestead laws, except in making my 

orginal entry, No. , on the day of , 18 — , for of 

section , in township of range , at the district land 

office at , State (or Territory) of , to which this entry is in- 
tended as additional under section 2306, U. S. R. S. 

Sworn to and subscribed this day of , before 

, Register \or Reciever\. 



[4-I37-] 

Receiver's receipt No. . Application No. 

homestead. 

Receiver's Office, , 



-, !»»-. 



Received of the sum of dollars cents; 



* Note. — If the entry was commuted under the eight section act of May 20, 1862, or 
section 2301, United States Revised Statutes, the statement of failure to secure title 
will be omitted and the fact of commutation inserted in lieu thereof. 

This affidavit must be executed before the register or receiver of the proper district 
land office or before some office in the Indian Territory authorized to administer oaths 
and using a seal. 



62 

being the amount of fee and compensation of register and receiver for the 

entry of of section in township of range , under 

section No. 2290, Revised Statutes of the United States. 



$ Receiver. 

Note. — It is required of the homestead settler that he shall reside upon and cultivate 
the land embraced in his homestead entry for a period of five years from the time of filing 
the affidavit, being also the date of entry. An abandonment of the land for more than 
six months works a forfeiture of the claim. Further, within two years from the expiration 
of the said five years he must file proof of his actual settlement and cultivation, failing to 
do which his entry will be canceled. If the settler does not wish to remain five years on 
his tract he can, at any time after six months, pay for it with cash or land warrants, upon 
making proof of settlement and cultivation from date of filing affidavit to the time of pay- 
ment. 

[Marginal notes in red ink.] 

See note in red ink, which registers and receivers will read and explain thoroughly to 
persons making application for lands where the affidavit is made before either of them. 

Timber land embraced in a homestead, or other entry not consummated, may be cleared 
in order to cultivate the land and improve the premises, but for no other purpose. 

If, after clearing the land for cultivation, there remains more timber than is required for 
improvement, there is no objection to the settler disposing of the same. But the question 
whether the land is being cleared of its timber for legitimate purposes is a question of 
fact, which is liable to be raised at any time. If the timber is cut and removed for any 
other purpose, it will subject the entry to cancellation, and the person who cut it will be 
liable to civil suit for recovery of the value of said timber, and also to criminal prosecu- 
tion under section 2461 of the Revised Statutes. 



[4-018.] 

ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD. 

(Act of March 2, 1889. Public No. 124.) 

Application No. 

Land Office at 



I } , of , do hereby apply to enter, under the sixth 

section of act of March 2, 1889, the , of section , in town- 
ship , of range , containing acres, as additional to my 

entry No. , for the of , section , in township , 

of range . 

My post-office address is * . 

land office at 



I, - — , register of the land office, do hereby certify that the 

above application is for surveyed lands of the class which the applicant is 
legally entitled to enter under the act of March 2, 1889, and that there is 
no prior valid adverse right to the same. 

, Register. 



*If residence in city, street and number must be given. 



63 

[ 4 -o36.] 

ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD. 

(Act of March 2, 1889. Public No. 124.) 

(affidavit.) 

Land Office at 



I, , of having filed my application, No. , for 

an entry under the sixth section of act of March 2, 1889, do solemnly 

swear that : said application No. is made for my exclusive 

and that said benefit ; entry is made for the purpose of actual settlement 
and cultivation as an addition to my homestead, No. , and not, di- 
rectly or indirectly, for the use or benefit of any other person or persons 
whomsoever, and that I have not heretofore had the benefit of said act. 



Sworn to and subscribed this day of , 188-, before — 



Note. — If this affidavit be acknowledged before the clerk of the court, as provided for 
by section 2294, U. S. Revised Statutes, the homestead party must expressly state herein 
that he or some member of his family is residing upon the land applied for, or upon the 
land embraced in his original entry, and that bona fide improvement and settlement have 
been made. He must also state why he is unable to appear at the land office. 



[4-065.] 

Soldiers' and sailors' homesteads under act June S, 1872. 

AFFIDAVIT. 

No. .1 Land Office at- 



I, , of , do solemnly swear that I am a , of 

the age of twenty-one years, and citizen of the United States : that I served 

for ninety days in company — ,, Regiment United States Volunteers; 

that I was mustered into the United States military service the day of 

, 18 — , and was honorably discharged therefrom on the day of 

, 18 — ; that I have since borne true allegiance to the Government; and 

that I have made my application No. to enter a tract of land under 

the provisions of the act of June 8, 1872, giving homesteads to honorably 
dis< harged soldiers and sailors, their widows and orphan children; that I 
have made said application in good faith ; and that I take said homestead 
for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and for my own ex- 
clusive use and benefit and for the use and benefit of no other person or 
persons whomsoever ; and that I have not heretofore acquired a title to a 
tract of land under this or the original homestead law, approved May 20, 



64 

1 86 2, or the amendments thereto, or voluntarily relinquished or abandoned 
an entry heretofore made under said acts. So help me God. 



Sworn and subscribed to before me, , register of the land office 

at , this day of , 18S-. 



Register. 



[4-546.] 
soldier's declaratory statement. 

I, , of County, and State or Territory of , 

•do solemnly swear that I served for a period of in the Army of the 

United States during the war of the rebellion, and was honorably dis- 
charged therefrom, as shown by a statement of such service herewith, and that 
I have remained loyal to the Government ; that I have never made home- 
stead entry or filed a declaratory statement under section 2290 and 2304 
of the Revised Statutes ; that I have located as a homestead under said 

statute the , and hereby give notice of my intention to claim and 

enter said tract ; that this location is made for my exclusive use and bene- 
fit, for the purpose of my actual settlement and cultivation, and not, 
either directly or indirectly, for the use and benefit of any other person. 

My present post-office address is . 



Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 188-. 

[seal.] 



Note. — This form may be used where the soldier files his own declaratory statement. 



[4-545-] 
soldier's declaratory statement. 
(Filed by an agent.) 
I . , of County and State or Territory of- 



■do solemnly swear that I served for a period of in the Army of the 

United States during the war of the rebellion, and was honorably dis- 
charged therefrom, as shown by a statement of such service herewith, and 
that I have remained loyal to the Government ; that I have never made 
homestead entry or filed a declaratory statement under sections 2290, 2304, 
or 2309 of the Revised Statutes; that I have appointed, by power of 
attorney duly executed on the day of (or I do hereby ap- 
point), , of County and State of , my true and 

lawful agent, under section 2309 aforesaid, to select for me and in my 
name, and file my declaratory statement for a homestead right under the 



M 

.) foresaid sections : and I hereby give notice of my intention to claim and 
enter said tract under said statute ; that the location herein authorized is 
made for my exclusive use and benefit, for the purpose of my actual settle- 
ment and cultivation, and not either directly or indirectly for the use or 
benefit of any other person ; that m\ said attorney has no interest, present 
or prospective, in the premises, and that I have made no arrangement or 
agreement with him or any other person for any sale or attempted sale or 
relinquishment of my claim in any manner or for any consideration what 
ever, and that I have not signed this declaration in blank. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 188 — , and 

I certify that the foregoing declaration was fully filled out before being 
subscribed or attested. 

[official seal.] . 



By virtue of the foregoing, and of a certain power of attorney therein 

named, duly executed on the day of . and filed herewith. I 

hereby select the as the homestead claim of , the aforesaid, 

and do solemnly swear that the same is filed in good faith for the purposes 
therein specified, and that 1 have no interest or authority in the matter, 
present or prospective, beyond the filing of the same as the true and lawful 

agent of the said , as provided by section 2309 of the Revised 

Statutes of the United States. 



Agent. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 188 — . 

[official seal.] . 

Note. — This form may be used where the declaratory statement is filed by an agent 
under section 2309, Revised Statutes. 



[4-008.] 
Additional entry under »ection 2306 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. 

APPLICATION. 

No. .] Land Office, , 

, 188 — 



1. , of County, State of , being entitled to 

the benefits of section 2306 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. 
granting additional lands to soldiers and sailors who served in tin- war of 
the rebellion, do hereby apply to enter the as additional to my 



original homestead on the — , which I entered • . x8 — , per 

homestead No. -. 

My post-office address is . 



Land Office, 



188— . 



I, , register of the land office at , do hereby 

certify that ■ filed the above application before me for the trad of 

land therein described, and that he has paid the fee and commissions pre- 
scribed by law. 

-, Register. 



A DIGEST 

OF THE 

DECISIONS | DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND THE GEN'L LAND OFFICE, . 

In Cases relating to the Public Lands, from July, 1881, to Jan., 1887. 

Prepared by 

WILLIAM B. MATTHEWS and WILLIAM O. CONWAY. 

RECOMMENDATIONS. 

This work has the approval of the General Land Office, and a copy of the 
same has been placed in each one of the district land offices in the U. S. 
. [From the Attorney-General of the United States.] 

Department of Justice, Washington, D. C, November 21, 1888. 

My Dear Sir— I acknowledge, with pleasure, the receipt of a copy of Digest of Land De- 
cisions, prepared by yourself and Wm. O. Conway, which you were kind enough to 
send me a lew days since. 

1 have examined the work somewhat carefully, and I regard it in all respects a most 
valuable contribution to that branch of investigation and study, and it cannot fail to 
receive the commendation of all persons engaged in " land matters " who may refer to it. 

Eoping tli is book may meet with the favor it so justly merits, I am yours very truly, 

Wm. P.. Matthews, Esq., Interior Dept. A. H. GARLAND. 

[From the Solicitor-General of the United States.] 

Department of Justice, Washington, October 23, 1888. 
Messrs. Matthews and Conway. 

( ientlenien— Your Digest, of the " Decisions of the Department of the Interior and the 
< teneral Land Office " is a work of substantial utility and merit. It supplies a want for 
those engaged in land office practice which has long been felt, and now, so far as I know, 
for the first time met. Without the Digest, it would be very tedious, if not impossible, 
in any reasonable time to acquire a knowledge of the practice of the Land Office that 
would properly qualify an attorney to take charge of that class of business. With the 
Digest, a very brief examination of any decided question will afford the basis for safe 
advice and intelligent action. I am yours truly, G. A. JENKS. 

[From Hon. H. L. Muldrow, Assistant Secretary of the Interior.] 

Department of the Interior, Washington, August 27, 1888. 
Messrs. Matthews a." C Conway. 

Gentlemen— Your Digest, of Land Decisions seems to have been prepared with the 
care that insures accuracy and inspires confidence, audi regard itas an invaluable ad- 
dition to the libraries of attorneys practicing before the local and General Land Offices, 
as well as a useful compendium and reference book to those engaged in general practice, 

I have not had the time to give it a thorough examination, but am confident I shall 
find it of great assistance in expediting the official work that comes to my desk. 

Very respectfully, H. L. MULDROW. 

[From Hon. Zach Montgomery, Assistant Attorney General.] 
Department of the Interior, Office of the Assistant Attorney General, 

Washington, D C, August 25, 1888. 
Messrs. Matthews and Conway. 

< ientlemen— I hasten to think you for a copy of your new publication entitled " Mat- 
bheWS and < 'onwav's Digest of Land Decisions." 

Judging from the brief examination I have been able to give your book, I am led to 
believe that I shall find in it a most helpful assistant in discharging the legal work of my 
office; and I am sure that it would make a valuable addition to the law library of any 
American attorney who has anything to do with the administration of the public land 
laws of the United States. Very respect fully, - ZACH. MONTGOMERY. 

[From S. V. Proudlit, editor of Land Decisions.] 

utment of the Interior, Washington, D. C. 
.Messrs. Matthews and Conway. 

The DigestofLand Derisions which you have so carefully prepared will be found a 
valuable addition to the library of attorneys practicing before the Land Department. 
It, lias the claim 01 novelty as well;: 1 merit, eovering not only the Departmental decisions, 
but the leading cases also in the United State - supreme Court. 
It is in fact a library in itself, and will be accordingly appreciated by the profession. 

s. V. PROUDFIT, Editor of Land Decisions. 

I From Hon. S. M. Stoekslager, Commissioner General Land Office/] 

Department of t he Interior, General Land Office, 

Washington, D. C, February 11, 1888- 
W. B. Matthews and W. O. Conway. _ 

atlemen— I am informed that you have completed and have now in press a Digest 
Of the Decisions of the Department of the Interior, comprehending a period from July 
17, 1881, to November 17, 1887, to which an- added the Depart mental Rules ot Practice In 
relation to public lands, with references to the decision- construing the Rules, as also a 
Digest, of the Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States in public land cases, 
covering the same period. Such a Digest has been long needed, not only by the officers 
of the Government, but by all the judges, lawyers, and civil officers residing in the pub- 
lie land States. I feel satisfied from my knowledge of your recognized ability, accuracy, 
and vour familiarity with the subject, that your Digest will be a complete success. 
Yours very truly/ S. M. STOCKSLAGER. 



Treatment Date V^ 9 2? s,um °x<de 

OCT 




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